Flying Home (REWRITE)
by Picoroo
Summary: (Things are changing. The basic story is the same, but I'll be going into more detail, adding things in, cutting things out, changing relationships etc. more detail inside) Even with the new Sanctuary, bird smuggling is still a ever-present threat to the Birds of Rio. When Nico is taken and flown halfway around the world, he must make the long and dangerous trek back home. Alone.
1. Taken

**Hi! Some of you will remember me better as Angel015, but that changed several months back. **

**So I'm back. And yes, I am re-doing 'Flying Home'. Why you may ask? Well, mostly for practice purposes, secondly I re-read the entire thing a few months ago and constantly kept coming across things I could change, or could write better, etc. And with a new film coming out very shortly I thought 'why not? could be fun' Now, just a notice, this isn't going to stick to the original. In the slightest. Things will be changed significantly (Not really in this chapter, but things will start in the next one) relationships will change, I'm cutting things out, adding things in, changing things around and, well, you get the idea. **

**I hope you'll still read this, both old readers and new, and hopefully enjoy it just as much (hopefully more) as the original. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

A bright full moon shone down on the city of Rio De Janeiro, illuminating the streets and alleys where even street lights could not and stars twinkled happily in the clear night sky. It was quiet, though unsurprisingly after the long week of partying that was Carnival, people and animals alike were finally winding down. There were a few people still out and about, some staggering home after a party, others simply out and enjoying the sounds of nature in the unusually quiet city.

Deep in the jungle, things were heading along a similar path, the only animals out were those finally heading to bed and the nocturnal. Among these were two small party birds attempting to reach their hollow after a long night singing, dancing and in one half's case, drinking.

"And this is why you shouldn't accept anything from those seagulls!" The smaller hissed, his tiny frame struggling to hold up his larger friend. Who apparently could aim while flying drunk, crash landing on the branch outside their hollow, rather than flying through the entrance. This left Nico to help him up and practically drag him the rest of the way.

How they had even managed to get all the way from the city with Pedro in such an intoxicated state was a mystery.

For once, Nico was thankful they wouldn't be going back to the club for a while. Most birds took some time after Carnival to simply kick back and relax. This of course meant that all the bird clubs in the city were closed for a few days. Not that either bird minded, both enjoyed the prospect of sleeping for a day, going to the beach, or simply hanging out and being lazy.

"But it tastes sooo *hic*good!" the cardinal slurred, swaying a little as he walked, causing Nico to cry out and pull of his strength into holding his friend up. Last thing he wanted was Pedro falling off the branch and starting the whole process again. Or falling on top of him.

The smaller bird scowled, silently cursing all types of alcohol as he steadied the cardinal and pushed on.

"Fair enough, but do you have to have so much?" Nico asked, already knowing he wasn't going to get a sensible answer out of his friend. If he got an answer at all.

"I want to go to Raffy's," Pedro suddenly stated, pulling at Nico's hold and trying to turn around. The canary quickly tugged him back on course.

"No you don't," he told him, wondering why the hollow suddenly seemed so far away.

"Oh come on, please," Pedro whined, still trying to pull away from Nico's surprisingly strong grip, "it'll be awesome."

Nico snorted, "yeah, if you like having your feathers plucked out one by one," he said, voice firm and unwavering as he pushed a little harder towards getting home.

Clearly, the message sunk in, as Pedro let himself be guided up to the entrance in silence, save the odd hiccup. He fell through the opening before attempting to walk in a straight line towards his nest, yawning wide. He collapsed within a few inches of the comfy bed, snoring loudly.

Nico watched the whole thing with a sigh and a fond smile. Rolling his eyes, he hopped back to the entrance, a small bowl in his beak. He quickly swooped down to the lake below and scooped some of the clear water, taking it back up and placing it gently down close by Pedro's nest. He knew the cardinal was going to wake up with a hangover, and as such will use it as an excuse to be even lazier than usual, and probably start whining for a drink. This was simply cutting out the middle man.

Fluttering over to his own nest, he settled down, taking off his cap and placing it close by. He yawned widely, curling up and drifting off into a blissful sleep.

* * *

"Ni-co."

Yup, there it was.

The canary twitched, rolling over and away from the annoying voice trying to drag him from dreamland.

"By the nest," he mumbled sleepily, curling up and trying to go back to sleep. He could hear Pedro push himself up and look around.

"Ah, thanks man," Pedro said, grabbing the bowl and downing it in one shot. Nico just grumbled, not particularly happy about being woken up before he wanted to be, and curled up tighter, burying his head in his wings. The small bird was almost always grumpy first thing after waking up, more so when he had to drag his best friend's drunk butt home the night before. It was an emotion that usually didn't linger for long; once he was awake he was his usual cheery self.

It didn't take long for Pedro to get over his surprisingly mild hangover, and before long he was up and bouncing off the walls, wanting to go down to the beach. Nico just patiently ignored him, not wanting to leave the comfort and security of his nest. Maybe if he ignored him long enough, he'll go away and the canary could get some more sleep.

"Come on," Pedro whined, poking the small ball of yellow feathers, "let's go to the beach."

Clearly he wasn't going to go away.

"You go down to the beach," Nico muttered, voice muffled by his wings, "and I'll see you there in say, six hours?"

"Hey guys!"

Nico groaned, curling up even tighter as the sound of Blu's far-too-loud voice assaulted his hearing. He could hear the kids chirps from outside, and their mother trying to shush them. There was a brief moment of blissful silence, while Blu clearly tried to work out what he was seeing.

"We're taking the kids to the beach, you want to come?" he tentatively asked, like if he said the wrong thing he might set off a bomb.

Pedro poked the yellow ball again. "See," he said, pouting, "they want to go to the beach."

"So go with them," Nico mumbled, yawning loudly.

"Won't you come too?" Pedro asked, continuing to poke him.

"Go on, give me another hours sleep and I'll meet you there, alright?" Nico told him, looking up at him from between his feathers.

"Promise?" Pedro asked, looking sceptical.

Nico nodded, "promise," he assured him.

The cardinal grinned, considerably brighter, turning to Blu, who had been watching the whole exchange patiently. "Alright, let's go," he cheered, "see you later!"

And with that, the pair flew off. Silence quickly fell over the hollow, and Nico let out a deep breath, trying to settle back down to sleep. But instead of comfort, he found the quiet too unsettling, too wrong.

After a while he rolled onto his back, uncurling his body and stared up at the ceiling, contemplating his options. There wasn't a chance in hell of going back to sleep now, that ship had sailed. Judging by the amount of sunlight pouring into the hollow, he would guess it was early afternoon. He could get up and follow Pedro, but he probably wouldn't hear the end of that for days. The last thing he wanted to see right now was that smug grin.

Pushing himself up, he looked around the bright hollow, yawning and rubbing his eye.

He could always stop by Rafael's, see the family, waste a bit of time and tell Pedro he had only just woken up when he got to the beach.

But the kids...

He stood up, stretching his limbs with a deep sigh. Ah screw it, Rafael's it was.

He fluttered to the entrance, realisation slowly dawning as he glanced around that maybe it was a little too quiet, though he couldn't for the life of him figure out why. He hopped out onto the branch, looking around in confusion. Save the breeze blowing through the leaves, there was no sound. It was completely dead.

It was only when darkness filled his vision and he found himself at the bottom of a dusty cloth bag did he know why.

* * *

"Nico's not a morning bird then?" Blu couldn't help but comment as the family and Pedro flew to the beach, the sun shining hot above them and the city was alive and bustling below.

Pedro just laughed, "never has been," he said, " and if you try to wake him you'll get a bottle cap to the face," he chuckled at the memory of the first time he tried to wake the sleeping canary. Despite the risks, he still woke the bird up, sometim*es in rather creative ways. However he quickly learnt to move the cap far away before trying anything.

They quickly reached their favourite spot, secluded and inaccessible by humans, and settled down for the afternoon. The three kids high-tailed it for the water, Pedro in close pursuit. The Cardinal flew up high above the water, before curling into a ball and dropping.

"CANONBAAALLLL!"

The kids squealed as the water splashed over them, almost pulling them under for a moment. Three heads popped back up out of the clear water, cheering.

"Woo! Do that again Uncle Pedro!" Tiago called out, his two sisters whooping behind him as Pedro came up for air, grinning wide. He splashed them as hard as he could, and they fought back, a action that very quickly turned into a war, the three mini-macaws against Pedro. Unsurprisingly, Pedro lost, eventually surrendering and climbing out of the water, laughing all the while.

It was only once he was sat on the hot sand, absentmindedly listening to Blu and Jewel's conversation and watching the kids swim and play, did he start to feel that something was wrong. It wasn't a feeling he could put a specific name to. It was just a feeling, a sense that somewhere, something had just gone very, very wrong.

He fought with himself for a few moments, debating whether he should check Nico was alright. On the one hand, he didn't want to seem too overbearing and protective, it hadn't even been an hour since he left, and Nico would definitely laugh. Then again, better safe than sorry right? And if Nico was still asleep, he would never have to know the Cardinal had been there.

"Hey guys," he called over to the two macaws, getting their attention, "I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?" Jewel asked, concern seeping through in her voice at the worried expression on his face.

He gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "Just gotta check on somethin' is all."

He took off, the last thing he heard from the family was the kids asking where he was going. He felt sort of bad leaving them so suddenly, but the feeling gnawing at his stomach didn't seem to want to go away. He wasn't going to be satisfied until he could tell himself that Nico was safe.

However when he reached the worryingly empty hollow, the feeling only intensified. There was barely a soul around and Nico was most certainly not there. It was possible they had missed each other, Nico flying to the beach, Pedro flying away from it.

But there was something eerily quiet about the whole area that put the usually laid-back bird on edge.

A sudden movement made him jump, and he spun around, seeing a small Honeycreeper creep out from a thick bush of leaves, look around and move to take off.

"Oi!"

The tiny bird jumped and squealed at the loud voice yelling from across the forest, almost darting away until he saw who had called. He was still trembling as the cardinal approached, but he didn't try to fly away.

"What the hell happened?" Pedro asked, probably a little too aggressive, but he was past the point of caring, "where is everyone?"

"Gone," the small bird whimpered, "people came, with traps," he shivered at some memory, "they're all gone."

Silence fell for a moment, Pedro staring in shock and horror, the honeycreeper glancing around nervously, like he expected another human to come crashing in and get him.

"When?" Pedro choked out.

"A-about half an h-hour ago," the bird stuttered, "I didn't see much."

"Did you see Nico?"

"Who?"

Pedro wanted to scream in frustration, with every minute that passed his best friend could be moving further and further away. "Never mind, go on." The tiny bird nodded and hurriedly flew off, not once looking back. Pedro just stood for a moment, swaying lightly on his feet, trying to wrap his mind around the news he just got. There was a 50/50 chance Nico was currently in the hands of smugglers right this second, maybe even already on a plane and leaving the country. However, there was also the chance he had hidden, escaped and was hiding out at his go to place when something happens and Pedro wasn't around, Rafael's. That was their agreement. If something happened and they ever got split up, meet at Rafael's.

But if he had been caught, the humans probably would've headed straight for the runway rather than hanging around. If he went to Rafael's first, they might not make it in time. Hell, if he went straight there, he might not make it on time.

There was only one thing to do.

* * *

Nico cried out as he was rather unceremoniously dumped into a small cage. He groaned, pushing himself up in time to see the lid dropped and padlocked before he had a chance to move, let alone escape.

He gripped the thick wire mesh that separated him from freedom, praying to whatever higher power was up there that Pedro or someone would notice he was missing before they had a chance to get him on the plane. He looked around, immediately realising where he was. The old runway.

If someone was going to notice he was missing, they better hurry up with it.

He looked around at the other cages, making sure no one else he knew had been captured. From what he could see, Rafael and family were safe, as were the macaws, and he would certainly know if Pedro was here, he'd be shouting and squawking the place down by this point. At least they were safe.

He watched, resigning himself to his fate as they began to stack the cages in the plane, which appeared to be a lot better quality than the last one they ended up on. Chances of escape seemed to be dimming with every minute.

"Nico!"

The small bird jumped at the familiar voice, heart leaping to his throat, spinning around to see Pedro on the other side of the bars.

"Pedro!" He exclaimed, darting over and gripping the wire, "dude, what are you doing here?" he hissed, looking around to see if any of the others were with him.

"I had a feeling," Pedro said, shrugging, "I'm gonna get you outta here."

Nico stared at him for a moment, "you had a feeling?" he asked eventually, raising an eyebrow, "what are ya, psychic?"

"Does it matter?" Pedro looked scared, more scared than Nico had ever seen him, "I gotta get you out!"

"I don't think there is a way out, unless you're any good at picking tiny locks," Nico sighed, looking up at the rather small padlock. He knew how to pick locks, Pedro never bothered learning. He was screwed, but there wasn't a chance in hell he was taking Pedro down with him. "You need to go."

"No!" Pedro cried, slamming a wing against the wire mesh, "no, you can't, I can't...you're gonna get out..." he trailed off, choking up as he gripped the metal separating him from his best friend.

"Yeah," Nico said with a small smile, placing his wing over his friend's on the wire, trying to comfort him despite the barrier between them. He was suddenly very conscious of the cages being loaded and how close they were getting. "And then we'll go to the beach, we'll soak Blu, play with the kids, bury someone in the sand and get ice-cream," he gave a slightly watery chuckle, holding back tears, "then we'll rock out at the Alley and party all night long, alright? Just as soon as I get back, I won't be long."

"Promise?"

"Promise," Nico grinned at the small smile appearing on Pedro's face.

A jolt knocked him off his feet as the cage suddenly lifted, knocking Pedro backwards. Nico quickly stood up and ran to the edge, watching in mute horror as something clearly snapped, and the cardinal shot off the ground and straight at the guy holding his cage, biting him hard on the shoulder.

Nico couldn't help but laugh before his cage was dropped, clattering to the ground. He sat up in a daze, all the breath knocked out of him as his cage was once again lifted and the human jogged to the plane, placing the cage down not so gently.

Shaking his head to clear the stars that had appeared in his vision, looking around wildly for any sign of Pedro as the heavy door began to lift up.

"Leave it," one of the humans said, catching his attention, "we have no use for violent ones."

The hatch closed, but not before he caught one last glimpse of his long time friend, who barely missed the opening before the door close in his face.

Darkness closed in around him, and he suddenly found it difficult to breathe. Short of a miracle, there was no way he was getting out of this one.

* * *

"No..."

Pedro couldn't move, regardless of how much he wanted to. He could only stand and watch as the plane the held his best friend took off, leaving him behind, completely helpless. There was no way he could catch up with the plane, and he would only exhaust himself trying.

He buried his face in his wings, breathing hard and trying not to cry with frustration and fear. He couldn't remember the last time they had been separated, not properly, and if he was honest with himself, just the thought terrified him. But the reality that was staring him in the face? That was a fear he couldn't even begin to describe.

If only he had dragged the bird out of bed earlier, if only he had stayed with him rather than going with the macaws.

If only...

What could he do?

When he finally looked up, breathing just about under control, the plane was gone, disappeared over the horizon.

Rafael.

He would know what to do.

* * *

Nico shivered, curling up in the corner of the tiny cage, finding it incredibly difficult to get comfortable on the solid wood. He closed his eyes tight, like if he could drown out this nightmare completely he would open his eyes and everything would be back to the way it was. Pedro would be poking him awake, whining about going to the beach and everything would be okay.

He knew if he had the chance to do it over, he would've dragged himself from that nest and gone with them. At least if something happened then they would still be together.

Just anything but this.

His mind kept repeating his last moments in Rio, over and over, the images seared onto his mind. He'd get back there. He had to. He remembered the last expression on Pedro's face before the door slammed shut, separating them completely. It was one of sheer hopelessness and despair and one he never ever wanted to see again.

But every time he closed his eyes it was all he could see.

He would make it back.

Just as soon as he got free.

* * *

Rafael growled in annoyance, grabbing the foot of the first kid to fly by, not taking his dark glare off the panting Cardinal who had just crash landed in his hollow. He had just managed to get all the kids to stand still for long enough to feed them all, when the red and grey blur crashed in and scattered them all.

"What?" He ground out, ducking as another one tried to tackle his head.

Pedro pushed himself up, expression panicked, still trying to catch his breath. Rafael looked around, expecting the other half of the duo to appear and explain, calmly, what was going on.

But Nico was nowhere to be seen.

Which might just explain Pedro's panicked demeanour.

His stomach dropped at the realisation.

"Pedro, breathe," he said, letting go of the squirming child in his grasp in favour of helping the bird stand up, "tell me what's going on."

"He- he's gone," Pedro choked out, "there were p-people, smugglers, they- they..." he trailed off, burying his face in a wing.

Rafael didn't need to hear any more to know exactly what had happened.

"Come on," he said, starting to lead the younger bird outside, "it's quieter out there," he turned to his wife, who had just appeared by the entrance, "can you look after the kids?" he asked, quickly justifying himself as she began to raise a sceptical eyebrow, "I think something's happened to Nico."

Eva immediately understood, nodding and stepping aside to let them out. Rafael pecked her lightly on the cheek as they passed, leaving the chaos behind.

The pair flew down to a quiet, shady spot away from prying eyes and listening ears.

"Give me details Pedro, what happened?" Rafael asked once Pedro was calm enough to give him the full story.

Taking a deep breath, Pedro began filling in the gaps, starting from when he woke up right up to crash landing in the toucan's hollow. Rafael listened intently, nodding every now and again, encouraging his distraught friend when he found it too difficult to continue. When the story was done, Rafael placed a comforting wing around his shoulder.

"And now, I-I-I don't know what to do," Pedro finished, voice cracking and looking very much like all he wanted to do was burst into tears.

Rafael sighed, thinking hard about how to word the next sentence. He didn't want to hurt the already suffering bird further by telling him it was a hopeless case, they didn't have a chance of finding Nico, not without any clues as to where he was taken. However, at the same time, he didn't want to get anyone's hopes up, least of all Pedro's, only for them to be cruelly crushed.

After a moment of debating with himself, he bent down so he could look into his eyes, put both wings on his shoulders and fought to keep his face and voice as neutral as possible.

"Look, here's what we're gonna do," He said, speaking slowly and clearly, not once breaking eye contact, "I'm going to ask around, see what we can dig up, we may be able to find out where that plane was headed," he inwardly grimaced at the sudden look of hope in Pedro's eyes. "But I don't want you to get your hopes up about that okay? The chances of finding anything are minimal, they could be anywhere, and the world is a big place."

Pedro's expression dropped once again, and Rafael mentally kicked himself. He had to find a balance.

"Now, not to toot my own horn or anything, but Nico had a good upbringing," even Pedro had to give a small, if slightly a wobbly chuckle at that. Nico was adopted into Rafael's family when he was barely a week old, having been abandoned by his own. He was essentially the first in a long, long line of kids. "He's smart," Rafael continued, glad to see even a tiny smile on the cardinal's face, "he's brave and above all he's stubborn, and if I know him, he'll be figuring out a way home right this second, and will be on his way the moment he can make a break for it."

"I know, I just..."

Rafael sighed, pulling the smaller bird in for a hug. It honestly hurt him to see how much this was affecting his old friend, and despite the fact he wanted to break down and scream at the unfairness of it all as well, he had to be strong at least for now.

He pulled away, looking down with a smile.

"I wish I could promise it will all be okay Pedro," Rafael told him, "I really do, at the moment nothing's for certain and as frustrating as it is, we can't really do anything but sit and wait. But there is one thing I know for certain," this caught Pedro's attention, causing Rafael to smile a little wider, "and that is that Nico will never give up on us, and he most certainly won't give up on you, and he'll keep fighting to get home no matter what. And you know it too."

Pedro looked up, eyes still wet with unshed tears and body still slumped, but there was a tiny smile on his face and a glimmer of hope and belief in his eyes. Not belief in Rafael, or that everything would definitely be okay, but belief in Nico. Belief that the small canary would face all odds and make his way back to them soon.

* * *

When Nico started to regain consciousness after a short, fitful and downright uncomfortable nap, the first thing he heard was muttering from around the aircraft. After almost complete silence for the first hour or so of their journey, due to fear and nerves, birds were beginning to come to life once more.

But the voices that filled the air were ones of hopelessness, of fear and of desperation. They talked of never getting out, being sold into captivity for the rest of their lives, being killed.

It only took a few minutes of this kind of talk before Nico simply couldn't take it anymore.

"HEY!" He yelled out suddenly, leaping up against the wire, feet gripping it expertly. Despite his small body, he had a powerful voice, trained up from years of singing over noisy crowds. The whole hanger instantly went quiet, looking in the canary's general direction. "What are you lot going on about? This isn't hopeless!" he told them, his voice cutting through the thick tension that filled the air. "This is a difficult situation, but we'll all be okay, we can get out of this." Instead of the reaction he was hoping for, which was a little more hope, he was met by silence. It was almost enough to kick his already wavering confidence to the ground.

"It's not impossible, there's always a way out," he said, a little quieter, sounding more like he was trying to convince himself more than anyone else.

Silence once again met his speech, a few birds breaking it with noises of disagreement. Nico opened his mouth to try again, but found no words would come out. These smugglers had obviously managed to kidnap the pessimistic lot. He sighed, dropping off the bars and settling back into his corner, feeling slightly dejected, but, somehow, not disheartened. He'll show them, he'd get himself out, and them too, because, despite the disbelief and pessimism, Rio birds stuck together and helped each other out in times of need. It was sort of an unwritten rule.

He may have also just wanted to show them he was right.

"Hey," a voice hissed from behind him. He turned around, coming beak to beak with a large green and yellow parrot through the bars of their respective cages. The bird looked expectantly at him, "so you really think we can get out of this mess?" He asked, voice low.

"Yes," Nico replied confidently, "I'll admit, I'm still not sure how, but I promised I would get back to Rio somehow, and I'm sure as hell gonna do it."

The parrot nodded, smiling, "well, if you need any help, I'll lend a wing. I have a family to get back to, I've got my first two kids on the way. It would be nice if I could see them hatch," the parrot smiled dreamily, clearly thinking of his mate and his home.

Nico smiled gratefully, "Thanks, if I think of anything, I'll let you know," he said, hopping to the edge to the cage to have a good look around, seeing what he could use to get this cage open. Or at least make a hole big enough to get himself through. From there opening all the other cages would be easy as pie.

"I'll help too," a female voice sounded from the cage above him, and he looked up to see a young golden Parakeet hanging from the bars at the top of her cage, smiling down at him, "I told my mama I'd be home for dinner. It'll be few weeks late but I can still make it," she told him, winking playfully.

"Liking the logic there," Nico grinned back, winking back with a mini salute with his wing feathers. Going back to the task at hand Nico began to examine the workmanship of the cage he was in, searching for anywhere he could maybe pull back the wire and squeeze through. Thankfully he was small, making the job a lot easier.

If he could find a weak spot that is.

"Damn these humans are getting good at making these things," he muttered to himself, hopping closer to where the metal met the wood, noticing the tiny rings that looped over the main wire embedded in the wood. If he could get a few of those out in a corner he may be able to bend the metal back enough to push himself out. Question was, how to get them out of the wood?

* * *

"Blu! Jewel!"

The two Macaws turned at the sound of their names, seeing Rafael land in the sand behind them.

"Hey," Blu smiled, an expression that slowly slipped off his face when he saw the serious expression on the toucan's, "what's wrong?"

Rafael held up a wing, taking a moment to catch his breath.

"We've had a..." he trailed off, struggling to think of the right word to describe the absolute disaster that had just occurred, "bit of a problem."

"What happened?" Jewel asked, concern clear in her eyes.

Rafael took a deep breath, bracing himself to give the bad news. "There's been another smuggling incident, it seems you guys missed it by minutes, but others weren't quite so lucky."

The couple took a quick glance at their kids, who were building a sandcastle some ways off, completely oblivious to it all. Turning back to the toucan, they looked at him expectantly, urging him to continue.

"Unfortunately, it would appear that Nico was among those caught."

Both birds gasped, Jewel bringing a wing up to cover her beak.

"Oh my god," she breathed, Blu placing a comforting wing around her shoulder, "is there nothing we can do?"

Rafael shook his head sadly, "they're already gone, it's too late, but we thought you should know, and to ask you one thing."

"Anything," Blu said.

"Pedro's gonna need a lot of support, those two are rather... co-dependent, it's not going to be easy for either of them to live without the other, and while there's nothing we can do for Nico, we need to do everything we can for Pedro. If..." he paused, swallowing the lump in his throat, "if the worst does happen, it's going to take him a long, long time to get his life back on track, and he's really going to need us."

"Of course, of course," Jewel said, nodding understandingly. She couldn't even imagine how Pedro must be feeling. She sighed, "we need to tell the kids," she said, looking back over to her children, still so happy.

"I know," Rafael said, his tone understanding, "you don't want to burden them, but it'll be better than waiting and keeping it from them, they'll find out eventually."

"Tiago, Bia, Carla!" Blu called out, catching their attention, "could you come here please?"

The three children looked a little put out about being told to abandon their admittedly impressive sandcastle, but came anyway.

"What is it daddy?" Bia asked once they had fluttered over, looking up at their parents with wide, innocent eyes and big smiles. It almost made Blu and Jewel not want to tell them.

"We have some rather bad news honey," Jewel said, opening her wing and drawing them in closer, "we're afraid..." she paused, looking up at her mate for support. He nodded encouragingly, giving a tiny smile. "We're afraid you won't be seeing your uncle Nico for a while."

The smiles immediately dropped off their faces, and Jewel almost lost the will to continue.

"Why not?" Carla asked, looking quite distraught at the news, even if she didn't quite understand. Jewel faltered, the expressions of despair on her children's faces enough to make her lose her voice. She had hoped to save this talk for when they were older, and she certainly didn't want this to be the reason for it.

"Some bad people came," Blu continued for her, noticing her distress, "they took a lot of birds, and unfortunately Nico was one of them."

"Why?" Bia asked at the same time as Tiago asked, "where?"

The three adults looked at each other.

"We don't know," Rafael said, giving an encouraging smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, "but don't you worry, he'll make it back soon enough."

* * *

He was beginning to wonder just how long he had been in there for, his short nap earlier had made him completely lose track of time.

"Hey Rita?" He asked the parakeet above him, and the young bird hopped into his sight through the bars.

"What is it?"

"I don't suppose you can find something to help me pry these metal rings out of the wood?" he watched as she looked around, "something really small if you can, and won't bend," he smiled encouragingly, turning to the parrot, "You too, Felix, anything you can find." The parrot nodded and immediately began searching.

Meanwhile, Nico had a go at forcing them out with his feet, then his beak, but with no avail.

"Hey Nico, will this do?" Rita asked from above, holding out a pin she had somehow managed to get out of the pin board hanging just above her cage, and Nico noticed, with some amusement, the piece of paper now hanging loose off it was the escape plan for the humans should they need to get off the plane.

How ironic.

"Let's have a go," he said, catching the pin with ease as she dropped it through the gaps in the wire. He rammed it into one of the metal rings down in the corner, wiggling the pin a little to get it further in. Then, as hard as he could, pushed against it. His heart leapt and he almost danced when the ring began to slowly ease out of the wood. He pushed harder, the ring suddenly leaping out of the wood and the canary slammed headfirst into the bars of the cage.

"Ow," he groaned, rubbing his head.

"Woo! You did it!" Rita cheered, turning a few heads in their direction.

"Yeah, one down," he looked at how many he would have to do in order to squeeze himself out, slumping slightly when he saw, "like, ten to go."

Once some of the birds began to see that the little canary was actually making progress, mutterings quickly shot round the hangar, a slightly more positive atmosphere taking over the miserable one beforehand, although a few were still sceptical that he would manage it in time, or that he would even help them if he does.

It took quite some time to get all the little rings out, Rita chatting above him, seemingly unable to not talk, though Nico welcomed the distraction, it stopped him from thinking too much of home, of his friends, his family, of Pedro. A few of the rings were exceptionally difficult to get out, some were deeper in the wood, and some had been bent as they went in, making them awkward to get out. One took around half an hour of pushing, repositioning and more pushing to get out. Several hours later, and he had just about gotten about eight more out, with only two to go before he would be able to fit his small body through when the plane began to descend, sending a wave of panic around the hangar.

Nico's eyes widened and his stomach sank with dread. He might be able to get himself out at this point, but how he was going to get everyone else out was a completely different question.

Slamming the pin into the next ring, he pushed as hard as possible. He would do this!

But, typically, this one choose to be difficult.

Growling low in frustration, he gave up, moving to see if he could force himself through the small gap he had already made, after bending the wire back. He could almost make it, just one more ring would do it, when the plane touched down, jolting the cages so much he was thrown back from the small hole and hit the other side of the cage.

"You alright?" Felix asked, watching as Nico pushed himself up, rubbing his head. The small bird nodded, glaring at the metal bars like he could burn a hole through if he tried hard enough. Just as he was about to try again, there was a loud bang, like someone hitting the metal of the plane from the outside, and seconds later the hatch began to open, spilling early morning sun directly into the aircraft. Nico used his bottle cap to block out the light, a very real fear settling in his stomach.

"N-Nico," he heard Rita whimper above him, pressed as close to the back of the cage as she could, and he quickly flew to the top of his cage, hanging off the bars as she did earlier, and pushed a wing through the gaps in an attempt to comfort her.

"It's okay," Nico told her, trying not to let the panic in his voice show through, "we'll get through this, it's okay," he said soothingly as she reached out to touch his wing. That simple contact calmed her down a little, her breathing slowing, her eyes focusing on the touch.

Every bird went silent as a human in a smart suit walked up and into the aircraft. He walked around, looking into every cage and examining each bird with calculating eyes. When he got to the canary's cage, Nico, instead of shrinking away, met the gaze with one of equal intensity.

The man stood, walking back out to the group of smugglers.

"I'll take them all," he told them, and Nico noted the thick British accent, as they walked off, "Take them to..."

The voice faded out as the hatch once again closed, and Nico almost growled in frustration, stopping himself only because of the trembling parakeet above him. The engine started up again, and the birds could feel the small plane shudder as it began to move, picking up speed and taking off.

"You okay girl?" he asked gently, and she nodded in response, obviously not trusting her voice. "Alright, I'm going to go get us out, you just need to hold on for a little longer, okay?" She nodded again, releasing her grip in his wing, allowing for him to flutter back down and resume his work on the cage.

It took him another half an hour to get enough rings out of the wood for him to fit through.

"Yes!" Cheered Rita, looking down at him through her bars, grinning wide. A lot of the other birds looked over at her exclamation, and upon seeing the canary out of his cage and fixing his bottle cap, murmurs of excitement filled the cabin.

"Alright, can anyone see a switch to open the hatch on this thing?" he asked the multitude of birds as he hopped over to Felix's cage and began to work on picking the padlock, a handy trick he had picked up from years of raiding food from the kitchens of cafes and restaurants. Blu had also taught him a thing or two, a few techniques to speed up the process, which had been rather slow and complicated beforehand.

"There's nothing in here," one of the birds, a red, yellow and blue parrot, called down from his high vantage point.

"It must be in the cockpit," Nico murmured to himself, quickly flying up to the door of the cabin as the cage door swung open, Felix hopping out and stretching out his wings. Peeking through, Nico immediately saw the 'Open Hatch' button, right in the middle of the dashboard. Definitely not in place for him to be able to sneak in and push it.

There was only one thing to do.

Wait.

"Alright, everyone listen up. I have a plan!" he called out, flying out to land on top of Rita's cage, where she looked up expectantly. "But I'm going to need everyone's co-operation in order to pull it off." Everyone nodded, now realising that this little canary wasn't insane, and he could, in fact, get them all out. Far from home, but free.

"I'm going to open all the cages, but I what I need you to do is stay in them," there were a few disapproving mutters at this, "the humans will probably be checking on us at least once during the flight, and from here, we physically can't open the hatch to get us out. So the only thing we can do is wait until the humans land this thing and open it, then make a break for it. From there it's all up to you." He finished to silence, a few of the birds nodding. "I'm going to need everyone's agreement on this, if those humans catch us outside our cages before we get to wherever we're going, they're just going to lock us back in and we'll have to start all over again, do you understand?" a few murmurs filled the cabin, "I said, do you understand?!" he repeated, eliciting a louder and more reassuring response. He smiled, moving to work on the padlock of Rita's cage.

It took about an hour for him to get all the cages unlocked, and surprisingly, all the birds kept to their promise and stayed in their cages, and not a single human looked back to check on them.

Once he finished, he went back to the top of Rita's cage.

"Right, is everyone done?" He asked, everyone nodding in response, "Good, now, I know it's going to be tempting to get out of the cage, but you just need to hang in there, and the moment that hatch opens, everyone go, and don't look back."

Excited murmurs filled the cabin, and Nico smiled, pulling open the door to Rita's cage and sat in with her, much to the Parakeet's surprise.

"I can't get in and out of my cage easily," he explained, "and I'm far too tired to bother with the lock," he told her, settling in the corner of the cage, his eyelids suddenly becoming heavy with sleepiness.

"You better get some sleep," she told him, smiling softly as he pulled his cap down over his eyes.

"Wake me up when we start to go down," he told her, curling up in the corner, uncomfortable, but far too tired to care.

* * *

"Rafael!"

The toucan in question jumped at his hissed name, despite the fact that he had fully expected it as he landed softly on the threshold to his hollow. At least it wasn't yelled.

"What happened?" Eva appeared, looking a mix between angry and worried, "what happened to Nico? Tell me he's okay."

Rafael sighed, wishing this whole thing was just a horrible nightmare and he would just wake up. He took his mate into his wings, closing his eyes and holding her tightly, the beginnings of tears pricking at the corners of his eyes and tickling the back of this throat.

"Smugglers," he bit out, hating the sound of the word on this tongue, hating the reality that was staring him in the face. Last time they had been lucky. He knew that wouldn't always be the case. But he never thought it would actually happen. And he certainly wouldn't have expected for Nico and Pedro to be separated by it. Those two were never apart, not once. What were the chances of something happening the one time they were? At least if they were together, yes he would most likely me worrying about both of them right now, but at least he would have the security of knowing that they both had someone to lean on, someone to support them constantly through thick and thin. The thought of Nico being out there on his own? It was almost too much to bear.

"Is he going to be okay?" Eva's choked voice sounded, sounding like she didn't quite believe it, maybe just not wanting to believe it,

"I wish I knew."

* * *

Several hours later, and with certainly nowhere near enough sleep, Nico awoke to a gentle shaking. He cracked an eye open, grumbling about being woken up, and completely forgetting where he was.

"What?" he muttered, burying his head under his wing.

"We're descending now," a high pitched female voice told him, "you might want to get up."

Everything hit him at once, and he shot up, looking around. Birds were beginning to get excited, murmurs and mutterings filling the hangar. The odd sensation in his stomach told him that yes, they were in fact descending. Scrambling to his feet, fixing his cap on his head, he looked around, seeing that every bird was still in their respective cages, and the locks were still off. Nothing had happened.

He felt something akin to excitement and adrenaline course through his body as he felt the plane touchdown, not quite as violently as the last time, meaning he could keep his footing.

"Everyone okay?" he called out. Positive mutterings echoed around the cabin and he smiled, waiting for that hatch to open so he could feel freedom once more.

After a few creaks and groans from the aircraft, the movement halted, and after a few moments, the hatch began to slowly creak open.

"Wait for it," Nico told them, readying himself by the door of the cage, Rita standing next to him, grinning as sunlight and cold air began to pour in. As soon as the main hatch was open enough, Nico yelled out, "Alright! Go, go, go!"

Doors slammed open all around and the birds streamed out, a mass of bright colours and feathers. Nico flew out, hovering at the edge to make sure they were all out, laughing at the humans confusion and panic, as the birds spread out into the air, cheering and laughing. He could easily pick out Rita's bright yellow feathers as she soared through the sky, twisting and turning through the air in her excitement.

He was about to follow, when a weak voice called from below.

In the confusion, some of the cages had fallen and had trapped a small blue honeycreeper under one of the doors of the cages, the poor bird to frightened and weak to move it.

Nico quickly glanced at freedom, the cloudy skies and crisp cold air, and then back down to the struggling bird. Then, with absolute horror, he noticed the hatch door begin to move back up. He only had moments to get out himself out.

He looked back at the trapped bird, mentally kicking himself.

'Damn conscience,' he thought to himself, swooping down and grabbing the metal with his feet, pulling up as hard as he could, flapping furiously. The cage door only lifted a little, but it was enough. The Honeycreeper shot out from underneath, shouting a thank you behind him as he dove for the exit, barely making it out.

Despite being hot on his heels, Nico managed to missed it, his heart leaping to his throat in horror as the hatch shut fully in his face, when he was only milliseconds away from freedom, and darkness closed around him once more.

* * *

In. Out. In. Out.

Deep and slow. Don't panic. Don't. Panic.

Just breathe.

He jumped as a large and slightly chubby hand slammed down very close to where he was hiding and started to feel around on the high shelf.

Reminding himself once again to breathe, Nico pressed himself further into his hiding space, hoping against all odds he wouldn't be found and caught. Again.

The hand came a little too close several times, and each time Nico's heart leapt into his throat, stomach twisting painfully with anxiety. But eventually the man gave up, hearing a panicked call from one of his... colleagues, and went running off, tripping over one of the fallen cages.

If his nervousness wasn't so overwhelming, he would have laughed at the man's failed attempt to get out without any injuries. But the most he seemed able to do was let out a deep breath of relief and slump to the ground, leaning against the wall. He was suddenly breathing like he had been holding it for the past half an hour.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he looked around the empty hangar, searching for any way out, any open doors, windows, anything that might grant him the freedom he was so desperate for.

While there was nothing in the hangar, there was daylight pouring in through the open door to the cockpit. If there was any chance of escape, it would be there.

He waited a moment, just in case any of the humans came back, but there was nothing but silence. Complete silence.

With a hard swallow, he steeled himself and fluttered over to the open door and through into the cockpit.

His beak dropped open at the sight.

White flakes floated to the ground, quickly laying and forming a glittering white sheet over everything. It was like nothing he had ever seen, and nothing like what Blu had described.

However where they had landed didn't seem like a runway, it looked more like a park, there were trees everywhere and what looked like a park bench not too far away. The looming snow must have made them make an emergency landing. Though even he, with a limited knowledge of these things, had to wonder how they had landed as smoothly as they did.

It would also explain their sudden disappearance. Whatever this whole operation had been for, chances are it wasn't legal, and if they landed in the middle of a public park with a planeload of illegally imported tropical birds, well, it wouldn't look good.

Which brought his train of thought around to his own escape plan, and lack thereof.

There were no open windows, doors locked and bolted, completely sealed. He was trapped. Until someone found the plane at any rate.

He looked around the pit, looking for anything that might help. Realising it was a lost case, he had no idea where to even start with the various buttons and switches on the dashboard, and frankly he was too scared to even try. So instead he found a comfy spot in amongst a left scarf, wrapped himself up against the cold and settled down.

As soon as someone opened those doors he would be out, but until then there was nothing he could do but wait.

His eyes closed, and despite himself, he drifted off into a well-earned sleep.

* * *

There was nothing Jewel hated more than the waiting game. And she knew it was worse when no one even knew if they were going to get what they were waiting _for._

She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

They had finally received some news after two days, and the fact that two days seemed forever wasn't promising for the rest of the wait, but she shook it off. It was a small story, and while the timings worked, she had no idea if it anything at all to do with Nico and the other birds. It could be exactly what they were hoping for, or nothing to do with them at all.

But as agreed, they needed to tell Pedro, and in what seemed to her as an unfair and biased vote, she was the one to break the news. Blu and Rafael's reasoning had something to do with motherly instincts and a more comforting demeanour. She just went along with it, rolling her eyes at them both. They were right in their own way, in her opinion men always seemed to be useless with emotions, but they could have just come out and admitted it rather than hiding behind weak excuses.

Smiling at their antics, she stepped into the seemingly empty hollow, looking around cautiously.

"Pedro?"

A muffled groan came from the nest to her left. She purposely ignored the empty one to her right. She may not be exceptionally close to either of them, but it still hurt to see. It made the whole situation more real in her head.

"Sweetie, I don't mean to wake you, but there's something I have to tell you."

Another groan sounded, and Pedro pushed himself up, looking groggy and half-asleep, but at least he was awake. Assuming he had slept at all.

"What?" he muttered, yawning and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"We agreed to let you know if we hear anything," Jewel said, smiling a little as her words clearly had an impact, the smaller bird perking up a little more, looking up with wide, expectant eyes, "Blu caught it, miracle really, tiny news story, but a plane landed illegally in London yesterday afternoon, a large group of tropical birds escaping as soon as the hatch opened."

Pedro certainly brightened at the news, quickly catching the link.

"The timings work, and while we don't know for definite, there is a good chance Nico was among them."

"That's... that's..." the poor bird couldn't even find words to describe what he was feeling at the information. It was the only news they had received so far, Rafael having failed to dig anything up just yet. And right now any news was brilliant.

"I know," Jewel smiled, wording the next sentence in her head before anything came out of her beak, "but before you get carried away, the plane had to land due to unforeseen weather, a massive snowstorm is currently hitting northern Europe, England and surrounding countries taking the worst of it. Chances of survival..." she trailed off, the unsaid conclusion hanging in the air, both birds smart enough to know what that news meant.

Survival chances were low for birds who had never been anywhere so cold before. Especially the smaller ones.

"He'll be okay," Pedro said, sounding a lot surer than Jewel felt.

Rafael had explained everything once they got the news. Yes Nico was smart, and he would know he had to get somewhere warm, and fast. But he carried on to explain how the tiny bird had gotten sick easily growing up, how susceptible he was to illness, especially in the cold, and while he had gotten much better over the years, weather like that could only spell bad news. She could see how much it hurt for him to say it out loud, and the logical side of her brain told her how low Nico's chances were, regardless of how much she didn't want to believe it. They just had to hope he had gotten out and found somewhere safe and warm to wait out the storm.

"Yeah," she said, her tone reassuring, though she wasn't entirely sure who she was reassuring, "he will be, just don't-"

"Get my hopes up?" Pedro asked, his voice suddenly cold and biting.

"I just don't want you to be disappointed," Jewel said, regretting her words the moment they left her beak.

Pedro just snorted, "I think I'm gonna be a bit more than disappointed if my best friend ends up... ends up..." he choked up, unable to finish the sentence, but Jewel understood what he was trying to say. She didn't say anything, instead taking the few steps closer and drawing him in for a hug, which he thankfully didn't reject.

"I know, I didn't mean that," she murmured, "I'm sorry."

"Hope's all I got," came the muffled reply, "I might just go crazy without it." He paused, pulling away with a wry smile, "well," he said, "crazier."

Jewel smiled, "alright, promise we won't say it again."

Pedro gave her a real smile at that, sitting down on the edge of his nest, staring somewhat absentmindedly at the empty one opposite him, smile slipping the more he stared. Jewel noticed the glazed over look he suddenly got, making a split-second decision that she knew Blu would berate her for later, but had to be done. At least for now.

"Do you want to come and live with us for a while?"

Pedro snapped out of the daze, shaking his head comically and staring at her, slack-jawed and wide-eyed.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously," Jewel said, "Blu won't mind, we have the space and the kids love you. I just can't stand seeing you on your own like this."

Pedro smiled, "thank you."

"You're welcome," Jewel said, enveloping him in another hug, "just hurry and get back to your old self, we miss him too."

* * *

When he cracked his eyes open sometime later, the first thing he noticed was that it was no longer cold.

In fact, it was rather warm.

And comfortable.

And quite dark.

In other words, the perfect setting for sleep. Smiling, he closed his eyes once again, relishing in the warmth that reminded him so much of home.

Hold on.

He opened his eyes once again, frowning at the rather embellished ceiling, fairly sure that when he went to sleep it was cold, and he was in a plane quickly being covered by a thick layer of snow. Sitting up, rather stiffly, he looked around the room he was in with astonished eyes. The space was large, even by human standards, and heavily furnished with vintage furniture and decor, a vast chandelier in the centre of the room. There was a large fireplace close by, flames burning bright, casting a yellow-orange glow on the room, which was dimly lit with a few lamps on the walls. He was still laying in the scarf, which had been placed on a yellow floral patterned sofa. To the simple, party-loving canary who lived in a tree, it was hideous. Apart from the fireplace, though that may have a lot to do with the fact that it had a flickering fire warming the whole room.

"Good to see you're awake," a male voice from nearby startled Nico out of his stupor, his eyes darting to a dark blue and white swallow perched on the armrest of the sofa looking down at him with small brown eyes. Nico wanted to make some witty reply, but found he had no voice, nothing to say. He was still trying to get over the fact that he was alive and in a place like _this._ His mouth opened and closed a few times before the bird chuckled, fluttering down closer.

"Allow me to introduce myself," the bird said, and Nico quickly picked up the British accent, "my name is Alistair," he told the canary with a warm smile, "I was flying home when I saw that a plane had landed in the middle of the park, completely illegally, though it was probably because of the snow mind you, and I thought I would have a look since the snowstorm had dropped some. And what did I find but a sleeping canary on his own and shivering in the cold. So I brought you home." He finished his story with a nod and a self-satisfied smile.

"R-right," Nico finally got out, finding his voice at last, "Well, my name's Nico, and I kinda need to get back to _my _home," he told the bird, who cocked his head, a small frown replacing the smile, "thank you for gettin' me out of the plane, but where am I?"

"You mean you don't know?" Alistair asked, shocked, "why, you're in Kensington," he said, spreading his wings with a wide smile as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. His wings dropped at Nico's blank look. "Y-you don't know where that is?"

Nico shook his head slowly, bewilderment clear in his large brown eyes.

Alistair sighed, dropping his head into his wings. "You're in London, England."

"Ya what?" Nico choked out, eyes impossibly wide with shock, "Oh no, no, no, no," he gasped out, suddenly breathing hard, sitting back and putting a wing to his head, "I had no idea we had gone that far," he muttered, more to himself than to Alistair, "I need to get home."

"Where do you live? Perhaps we can take you there?"

"Rio," Nico said simply, his face completely neutral as he took in the expression on Alistair's face, "as in, Brazil."

"Well, in that case," Alistair started, his expression going from stunned to thoughtful, "there's not a huge amount we can do I'm afraid."

Nico's face dropped into one of despair.

"I'm sorry, but until the snow clears no plane is going anywhere."

"I'm not going on a plane then," Nico stated, absolute certainty in his voice, "I really don't want to sit around and wait," he told the shocked bird, "I'll just have to fly myself."

"But that's impossible!" Alistair exclaimed, "it's way too far, you'll never make it."

"They told me I wouldn't be able to escape that cage, yet I did, and got everyone else out too," Nico told him, determination clear in his voice, his expression steeled to this new plan, "nothing is impossible if you put your heart into it. I promised I would get back to Brazil, and I am going to do it. And if that means doing it myself and not relying on planes, fine. Besides, after my last two experiences I'm not a huge fan of 'em."

"But you, I mean, you're such a small bird, how do you expect to fly all the way there?"

"Probably with a bit of trouble," he shrugged, giving a small grimace at the thought of flying all those thousands of miles, "but it'll be damn worth it," he grinned, "I'm going to need help with directions and such though."

Alistair sighed at the seemingly suicidal task, flying over to a cabinet on the other side of the room and dropping the lid with practiced ease. He motioned for the canary to follow. Nico fluttered over, pushing his cap further back on his head to get a better look at whatever it was the swallow wanted to show him.

A large world map covered the wood he had landed on, incredibly detailed with beautiful calligraphy.

"This," Alistair pointed to a point on the map, somewhere in the south east of England, "is where you are right now, and this," he hopped further down, "is where you want to go," he pointed at a point near the south of Brazil, "to go directly in a straight line is around six thousand miles, it'll take weeks just to do that, and there's no resting spots on the direct route."

"So I'll just have to take the indirect route," Nico said simply, examining the map. Alistair sighed once again, shaking his head.

"Alright, alright, alright, I can see you are not going to be deterred by this," he said, a small smile appearing on his beak, "from what I've heard, this snowstorm has hit, or at the very least will hit most of northern Europe, you'll have to travel down quite far south in order to find an airport still in operation. To find anything still in operation for that matter."

"Okay, well that shouldn't be too bad right?"

Alistair looked at him like he was insane. "If the weather wasn't like this I would say yes, but it's below zero out there," the dejected look on Nico's face made the swallow second guess himself, this bird really was dead-set on getting home as soon as he could, "but if you are this determined, I suppose I can help you," he told him, and he couldn't help but smile a little at the joyful expression that materialised on the little canary's face.

"Really?" Nico exclaimed, grinning wide as he grabbed the swallow's wing, bouncing up and down slightly in excitement, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Chuckling a little at his reaction, Alistair gently pried his wing away, moving up to northern Europe on the map. "Alright, so if you are here," he pointed to London, "what I would suggest is flying down to Dover," he moved the feather he was pointing down to the South-East of England, "that is the point closest to France, it should only take an hour or two to cross the English channel," he tracked the route with his feathers, Nico nodding at everything he said, "from Calais, heading for Paris is the best bet for you, depending on the weather, you can see what you can do about getting a plan from there, or you can continue down as long as it takes to find somewhere not covered in snow. I have some friends in Paris who can guide you from there should the need arise. I can send a message ahead."

Nico grinned, overjoyed.

"It'll probably take several weeks just to find a operational airport, ferry-port, or anything to get you across the Atlantic, despite it being so late in the year, they've been talking about this snow lasting for some time, are you sure you want to do this?"

Nico nodded eagerly, his cap bouncing slightly.

"Just show which direction to go, and I'll be on my way," He told him, eager to get going, wanting to be home as soon as he could.

"Now, now," Alistair said, laughing, "I know you're excited to be going, but it's the middle of the night, and it's still snowing pretty heavily out there. Wait until it's stopped, get some rest, and I'll sort out a small pack with a few extra provisions for you to take," he looked the canary up and down, suddenly realising he wouldn't be used to this sort of weather if he was from Brazil, "and perhaps a scarf."

* * *

Standing on the windowsill, pack on his back, and freezing cold air blowing in through the open window, Nico was suddenly second-guessing himself. The thought of leaving the warmth and comfort of the large house, especially after having spent two days in it waiting for the storm to blow over, was sounding more and more terrible by the minute.

"You can still change your mind," Alistair pointed out as he fixed the smaller bird's scarf, ensuring it was snug and not likely to fly away once the bird took to the air. The cold breeze ruffled feathers as they stood there, Nico looking more and more worried with every second.

"I can do this," Nico said, "it'll be fine."

Alistair raised an eyebrow, "who're you trying to convince here, you or me?"

Nico just gave a half-hearted glare, inwardly bracing himself for the cold. '_I'm fine,'_ he told himself, '_I can do this, I just need to keep moving, keep flying and I'll be fine.' _

"Thank you," he said, turning to the swallow, a grateful smile on his beak, "for saving me."

"You're welcome," Alistair said, "stay safe and don't do anything stupid," he gave the canary a very pointed look.

"Stupid? Me?" the canary grinned, "don't worry, I'll be fine. This isn't that bad."

"Don't worry?" Alistair raised an eyebrow, "I'm British, I'm used to awful weather but this..." he trailed off, gesturing to the snow covered street. The white flakes covered everything, several feet deep.

"What?"

"Britain's notorious for having terrible weather, but this is the worst I've seen, so really, be careful, and if you find Cosette in Paris tell her to let me know you made it or I'll be kept up worrying about you."

"What kind of weather do you usually get?"

"It's mostly miserable, with the odd sunny day if we're lucky, now stop stalling, you're just going to make it worse."

"I know!" Nico groaned, "alright, let's do this!" He straightened his hat, steeling his expression before taking off into the air. He hovered for a moment, turning back to the Swallow with a grin, "thanks again!" he called, tipping his hat with a wink. With one last glance, he turned and flew into the open air, feeling the cold air biting at his face. He'll never get used to the cold, he just couldn't wait until he was back in the tropical weather of Rio.

"Good luck!" Alistair called after him, chuckling.

Nico laughed, twisting in the air.

He was finally on his way home.

* * *

**So... yeah, not a huge amount changed here. In fact, I was incredibly lazy in some spots and simply copied and pasted. Mostly because I actually like those parts just as they were, they still fit and I didn't want to just re-type the whole thing out. Paris is where the story really begins to change. The physical journey will stay more or less the same, but things are changing, new characters, new relationship dynamics. I'm even thinking of changing the villain, though maybe not. (I have ideas for another one, but they're not quite fully formed).**

**And I'll definitely be delving a little deeper into Nico and Pedro's relationship. I didn't do that enough last time and it's something that's really interesting that will probably never get fully explored in the films. (I love the minor characters, which sucks sometimes (other times it's a godsend, means you can make up most details about them and no one will bat an eyelid about it :))**

**I wasn't going to publish this, it's more of a personal writing practice piece especially since I haven't written anything this long in forever and I'm about to start writing a original novel. Need to get myself psyched up :P But I kinda just went screw it, it'll be interesting to see what people think. And since the sequel is coming out really soon, it'll be like a mini celebration.**

**As always, reviews would be greatly appreciated :)**


	2. Stuck in Paris

Darkness filled his world as he awoke. He felt groggy, tired, hungry and as consciousness crept up on him more and more, confused. For reasons beyond his current understanding, he didn't remember falling asleep, and he certainly did not remember being in any sort of pain. At least, not the kind of pain that was slowly coming to light in his left wing.

The longer he lay there, the dull ache became more apparent with every passing second, dragging him from consciousness. He began to remember more details of how he got into this mess.

Whatever this mess was.

He remembered flying. Honestly it was all he could remember of the last few days. He flew for as long as he could after leaving London, taking short breaks where he could and longer ones at night, finding anywhere that was even remotely warmer than outside. It took a week and a half to reach Paris. The details beyond reaching the outskirts of the city were a little fuzzy, but he remembered a fog, or maybe it was low lying cloud. Either way, he couldn't see where he was going. The next thing he knew, before he could make the decision to land, a shape loomed out of the mist, and that was all he could remember.

He must of hit it. Somehow. The fact that he was still alive and fairly warm meant that someone must have found him and taken him in.

Finding out who meant mustering up the energy to open his eyes, and if he was being honest, he was still feeling too tired and lazy to do even that. The warmth and darkness just seemed like too good a combination to ruin.

However with the pain becoming more prominent in his wing, going back to sleep was completely out of the question. Instead he focused more on what he could hear, maybe he could figure out where he was based on that.

There was the faint sound of music somewhere. Not the kind of thing he was used to, it sounded more like a choir, something that might be heard in a church. And it certainly wasn't a language he knew.

There was also the sound of someone moving around fairly close by, quietly humming along to the music.

He thought for a minute he could ignore it, but eventually the curiosity got too much.

Mustering all the energy he could, he cracked an eye open, testing the light. Coming to the conclusion it was dim enough not to blind him, he blinked both eyes open. He stared at the ceiling for a few moments, trying to focus his vision.

When everything cleared, wooden rafters filled his vision, a warm light flickering somewhere to his left.

"Eh bien, bonjour, il est agréable de voir que vous réveiller."

He almost jumped at the high-pitched, cheery voice from his left, turning his head, with surprising difficulty, to see who had spoken. Standing by a wide candle with a warm smile was a middle-aged sparrow holding a roll of bandages and a cup of water.

"Comment vous sentez-vous amoureux?" she asked softly.

Nico just blinked comically at her for a moment, a blank expression on his face. He didn't have even the slightest clue what she had just said.

The bird raised an eyebrow, clearly waiting for a response, before realisation dawned in her eyes.

"Oh! Um... English?" She asked, looking hopeful.

Nico opened his beak to answer, but no noise came out. His throat tickled and he was overcame with the need to cough. He nodded, trying to get rid of the tickle at the back of his throat.

"Alright," the bird stepped close and slipped a wing under his shoulders, carefully helping him sit up without jolting his wing too much. Once he was sat up against a pile of pillows she held a cup of water to his beak, "drink zis." Nico tried not to moan at the feeling of the cool water down his throat, drinking thirstily.

"Better?"

"Thanks," Nico said, his voice a little hoarse, but he smiled gratefully, "what happened? Where- where am I?" He lifted his good wing, rubbing his eyes as a yawn made itself heard. He had no idea how he was so tired, he'd apparently been unconscious for who knew how long. All he knew was that he was starving and wanted eat several times his body weight in food then sleep for a week.

"Vell, zat's an interesting story, maybe ve should start vith introductions?" She said, raising a eyebrow and smiling warmly. Nico just nodded, looking a little sheepish. "My name is Cosette, a friend of mine found you about a veek ago, unconscious in the snow, and found a note in your, um, bag and brought you to me. You must be ze the bird Alistair sent zis way." Her English was very good, even if she had to stop and think of the right word every now and again, and her accent was a little hard to understand at moments.

"Ah, yeah, I'm Nico," the canary said, smiling, even though he was screaming inside. He'd been unconscious for a week. A whole week wasted, and even longer if his wing was as badly damaged as it felt. He resisted the urge to groan in frustration. At least he was still alive, he didn't want to sound ungrateful. "What happened to me?"

"I cannot tell you for certain," Cosette said regretfully, "but as far as ve can tell you, vell..." she trailed off, looking rather uncomfortable about giving him the news, "you, vell, you flew into the Eiffel tower."

Nico didn't reply immediately. Instead he just stared at her for a few moments, beak dropped open in shock.

"Uh.. I... I what now?"

"Luckily you didn't fall too far, but ze impact knocked you out and broke your ving in two places. Nothing severe, but still broken. And by ze time someone found you, you 'ad pretty severe 'ypothermia. Ve almost lost you a few times."

Nico barely heard her, still trying to get over the fact that he had flown into the Eiffel Tower of all things. The biggest thing in Paris, not exactly difficult to miss. This was one story he was going to very much _not _tell when he got back home.

However some of what she said got through his shock-addled brain.

"Wait, broken wing?"

"Oui," Cosette confirmed, nodding, "it could 'ave been vorse, but I'm afraid you won't be flying for a while."

Nico groaned, dropping his head back against the pillows. "How long?"

"A month at least," Cosette told him, "I'm sorry, I'm going to 'ave to keep watch on it to make sure it 'eals properly. You can stay 'ere for as long as you need."

"Thanks," Nico said, lifting his head and giving her a grateful smile, "so where is this place?"

"An old attic in the centre of Paris, abandoned, no 'uman 'as lived 'ere for years so I just took over," she smiled, standing up and moving to fill up the empty cup once more, "I run an orphanage of sorts, chicks who have lost zeir parents."

She turned around to see Nico staring at her in awe. "Vhat?"

He started, closing his beak and clearing his throat, looking a little embarrassed. "Sorry, it's just, well, I never knew my parents, at least, not my real ones," he smiled, "Rafael and Eva took me in when I was about a week old. How many do you have?"

"At the moment, nine, it changes regularly though, more coming in, others getting adopted," she explained, "sounds like you vill get along vell with ze children."

"Well, I'm here for a while, I hope so," Nico grinned, a gesture that was quickly cut off with a wide yawn. Cosette chuckled, placing the cup of water next to his nest.

"Get some rest okay, you're going to need it," she told him, moving to leave the small room.

"Wait!" Nico called, suddenly noticing something missing, "bit of a long shot, but did your friend find a, well, a bottlecap nearby when they found me?"

He'd had that specific cap for over six years, he wasn't going to lose it now. Even if he had to go out and look for it.

"By ze bed," Cosette said, smiling as Nico pushed himself up to look over the edge of the nest, his face lighting up as he caught sight of the shiny disk, "we didn't know if it was yours or it just fell on your head after the fall, but it seemed a little unlikely for it to be all the way up there, so ve bought it back just in case."

"Thank you," Nico said, relief clear in his voice. He had that cap for so long, he was not going to lose it. Cosette just smiled, leaving the room, and leaving him in silence.

And unfortunately silence meant he had nothing to distract him from his thoughts.

So he had a minor setback. It just meant that when he got out he would just have to push harder to get home as quickly as possible.

Home.

It had been nearly three weeks, and the feeling of homesickness just wouldn't go away. He couldn't help but wonder why this happened to him, or at least, why it was just him, why he had to do this on his own. At this point, he didn't care who it was, just so long as he wasn't alone.

His mind constantly repeated the what ifs, over and over.

What if he had gotten up when Pedro asked him to? What if neither of them had gone to the beach? What if Pedro had never found him? Would they know what had happened? And how long would it take for them to notice he was missing?

Not that any of that mattered, what happened, happened, and there was nothing he could do to change that, however much he wished he could. He just had to make sure he got back to them as fast as he possibly could, against all the problems the universe seemed to be throwing in his path.

He wondered how they were coping.

Blu and Jewel would be worried, yes, but it wouldn't be life changing. It was the kids they had to worry about. The blue bundles of pure energy that adored it whenever he and Pedro would come and visit. Though he never did quite get over the fact that they were bigger than him from the moment they hatched. He loved them regardless, and the sentiment was returned tenfold. He was definitely glad he didn't have to be the one to explain what had happened, and he certainly hoped they understood he would be back soon. They were growing up so fast and he did not want to miss that.

He knew exactly how Rafael would cope. He'd act strong on the outside, making sure everyone else was alright, dealing with their problems, anything to stop himself from over thinking things and worrying. But that's exactly what he would be doing. Worrying. Constantly. The canary was the oldest of his children, not necessarily by blood, but his son none the less. He could look after himself well enough, and Rafael knew this, but this wasn't Rio. The world was unforgiving and hard, especially in climates he wasn't used to, and even he knew that being a tiny bird in the big wide world wouldn't always play out to his advantage. He knew the toucan would have absolute belief in what he could do and the fact that he was smart enough to look after himself, even out here, but that wouldn't stop him from worrying.

Though it probably wouldn't be half as bad as Pedro.

He burrowed down further into the several blankets thrown over him at the thought of his best friend. He still couldn't get the memory of the last time he saw him out of his mind.

What was he doing right now?

The funny thing was, Nico couldn't think of anything. They spent every waking moment together, it was hard to imagine doing anything without Pedro, the past few weeks had been hell. After spending most of your life with someone else, suddenly being on your own was like being thrown in the deep end without a float. He was almost certain the cardinal felt the same way. It was probably worse on that end. There were very few birds in Rio who could put up with some of Pedro's more eccentric sides for too long. Nico had once been told he had the patience of a saint for sticking with him all the time. He had just snorted, the bird was clearly new.

Eccentricities aside, Pedro had always been a little protective over his smaller friend, and there were times when Nico was thankful for this. This was not one of those times. He knew the older bird would be freaking out, constantly worrying and completely unfocused on anything. The first time he got sick after moving in together, Rafael had to physically throw him out for getting too stressed. Nico remembered none of this, but Rafael had filled him in after he was better and they pretended he did, and it was always a fun story to tell, if only for his reactions. Pedro, to this day, still has no idea. But now, the older bird couldn't look after him, no matter how much he may want to, and there was more than just a angry toucan separating them. He could only imagine how he had reacted once that plane was well out of reach, and every day since.

It felt like a piece of himself was missing. Like there was a very empty space right next to him that just could not be ignored.

They had known each other for six years, and despite the rather rocky start to their friendship, had been the best of friends since the beginning. When they first met, they got on well enough, and there was definitely potential for a good friendship. But that night was the night of one of the biggest singing competitions in Rio, which Pedro had entered and was fairly confident about (perhaps a little over-confident). Nico, never having sung on a stage in his life, hadn't. However, a spot opened up halfway through the evening and the young bird was quite literally thrown onto the stage with five minutes warning and no preparation. Neither of them won, but Nico still beat Pedro, and even though it was by a feathers breadth, the older bird didn't exactly take it well. He had explained later that it was more about the lack of preparation and practice than actually beating him. Either way, they didn't talk for several days after that, both a little hurt, and Rafael ended up doing some peace-keeping between them.

Long story short, there was a hysterical collision, followed shortly by Rafael throwing them on stage together with only an hour's notice, and both discovering that maybe, just maybe, they were better together than they ever could be on their own.

Nico sighed, rolling onto his side and curling up.

Maybe in a few days he could get out and maybe explore a little bit of the city, just to take his mind off his own home for a short while.

* * *

"Bonjour, un autre jour de neige je crains."

"Huh?" Nico blinked sleepily as the rather cheery sparrow breezed into the room. He resisted the urge to dive back under the blankets as she yanked back the cloth covering a small window, letting blinding sunlight stream into the small space. Instead he just blocked it with his wing, blinking stars out of his vision.

"Oh, pardon," Cosette chuckled, realising her mistake, "Good morning," she corrected, "more snow today I'm afraid, and power cut out two days ago, ve need to make sure the candles stay lit or it's going to get very cold."

"Oh joy," Nico murmured sarcastically, yawning, "more cold, just what I wanted."

"'ow are you feeling?"

"Better," Nico said, smiling sleepily. He was still tired, but nowhere near as groggy as he had been after waking up the night before. He'd slept better last night than he had in weeks.

"C'est bien," Cosette smiled, placing the back of her wing against his forehead, "fever's completely gone, merveilleux."

She busied herself with cleaning up for a moment while Nico woke himself up a bit, crawling out from under the covers. A action he immediately regretted when his body was met with freezing air. He really hoped it warmed up soon, he _really_ didn't like the cold.

"Do you think you might be alright to meet the chicks today?" Cosette asked, "zey've been dying to meet you."

"I don't know," Nico said, looking a little sceptical at the idea, "Isn't there going to be a bit of a problem with language? I don't know any french."

"Several of zem don't even know 'ow to talk yet, don't worry," Cosette smiled reassuringly, "I'll be zere to translate if you need it."

(SEVERAL HOURS LATER)

"I think I prefer the toucans."

Nico almost collapsed into his nest, resisting only because of his injured wing. Instead he gingerly sat down on the edge, exhausted. Cosette laughed from just outside the door, where she was cleaning up. The younger birds had been put down for their nap, the slightly older ones quietly talking in the far corner of their shared room.

"They can be a bit of a 'andful at times," she said, "but you did vell, considering."

"Heh, thanks, maybe I should learn at least a bit of French though," Nico said, looking thoughtful, "do you think you could teach me?"

"I would be 'appy- Hold on," Cosette paused, and Nico could hear a frantic knocking from the other side of the attic. The canary pushed himself back up, walking out into the main room, where Cosette had hurried to the door-slash-window pulled it open, a flurry of snow and cold air blowing in. She ushered someone else in, and even from his distance, Nico could see the squirming bundle in the strange bird's wings.

"Oh mon dieu, Gwen, ce qui s'est passé?" Cosette asked, pushing the door shut with some difficulty against the wind, "ce qui s'est passé?"

The bird, a smallish bird with red and brown feathers, said something in very fast French, looking very apologetic as she handed the bundle over. She carried on talking as she backed towards the door.

"C'est très bien, assurez-vous que vous arrivez à la maison en toute sécurité," Cosette said, helping the bird with the door. Once closed, she hurried over, muttering to herself.

Much to Nico's surprise, she deposited the bundle in his good wing before fluttering up to a drawer, rummaging around inside.

Nico looked down, adjusting his hold. All brain processes stopped as he saw the tiny face surrounded by a blanket, yawning and trying to nuzzle into him. It was the tiniest bird he had ever seen, with fluffy blue, white and black feathers. How could anyone want to give this up?

"What happened?" he asked as Cosette landed next to him, extra blankets and a small box. She ushered them into the small room he had been staying in, her expression set with grim determination.

"Ve need to get 'er warm, quickly now," she said, taking the spare blanket and wrapping it around the tiny body, "she was left out in the cold by 'er parents," she explained, "Gwen found 'er on 'er way home, brought 'er 'ere."

Nico said nothing, he simply stared down at the chick, who couldn't be more than a few days old, a week at most. He couldn't help but think of the day Rafael had found him. True, he didn't remember it exactly, he was only a week old himself, but the situations had their similarities, and it definitely got him thinking.

"Why?"

"I don't know," Cosette breathed, "it could have been anything, they couldn't look after her, or there's something wrong with her, or they're just horrible birds."

The girl yawned, snuggling down in her blankets and drifting off to sleep.

"Come on," Cosette said, taking the tiny bundle, "we don't want to wake 'er, she seems to be alright, but I'll keep an eye on her tonight, we can sort this out when she wakes up." She took her into the adjoining room, murmuring soft words in French under her breath. Nico however, simply sat where he was with legs stretched out in front of him, staring at his feet blankly.

"Vhat are you thinking mon cherie?"

He started when a comforting wing fell around his shoulders, looking up to see Cosette sat close, a worried smile on her beak.

"I just... it's just, I don't understand why anyone would..." he trailed off, sighing deeply and glancing back at the room.

"Do you ever vish things 'ad turned out differently?" Cosette asked, "vith your family?"

Nico didn't even have to think about it, "no, definitely not, I can't imagine my life without Pedro, or Rafael, or the macaws and the kids, but I wouldn't mind knowing why, ya' know? Why they thought, 'week year old chick, let's just abandon him on a random beach in Rio'."

Cosette pulled him closer, stroking his head gently. "Maybe it's better you don't know," she told him, "just because someone's related by blood doesn't make zem family, 'onestly it sounds like you got the better deal."

"I know," Nico sighed, smiling a little, thinking back to growing up, "thanks, just, please don't stop doing what you do."

"Je ne voudrais pas décevoir," Cosette smirked when Nico looked up blankly at her, "you said you wanted to learn French, shall we start?"

* * *

"Rafael!"

The toucan in question almost jumped out of his seat at the loud shout of his name echoing through the hollow. Thankfully, Eva had taken the kids out, saving him the trouble of calming them back down and saving Blu, who had just appeared at the entrance to the hollow, from being tackled to the ground by half a dozen over-excited baby toucans.

"Yes?" He replied with mock enthusiasm, one eyebrow raised.

"I have news," Blu panted, "not entirely sure if it's good or bad, but some bird called Rita just showed up, she was one of the ones taken the other week, knows something about Nico!"

"What?" Rafael shot up like a bullet. It had been almost three weeks with no news, anything on the little canary was an absolute godsend at this point, even bad news. He just wanted to know. "Where is she?"

"Come on, I'll take you, her mother won't let her out of her sight."

Ten minutes later they were at the parakeet's hollow, sitting the rather nervous bird down, Rafael trying to be as calm as possible.

"What do you know?" he asked, a strong sense of urgency in his voice, "tell me everything."

"I don't know that much," she said quietly, fidgeting in her seat, "I was in the cage above him in the plane, he was great, he really was, he kept everyone's spirits up when the negativity set in, and he was the one who got us all out. There was no way out of the plane while the plane was still in the air, so we had to wait for it to land, then we all flew out when it landed. That was when I lost track of him," she flinched away from Rafael's disappointed eyes. Her mother placed a wing around her shoulder.

"Leave her be would you?" she scolded the toucan, "she's had a traumatic experience."

"I know I just-"

"It's okay," Rita cut in, giving a small smile, "I'm sorry Rafael, I thought he was right behind me, but when I turned around he wasn't anywhere, and the humans had closed the hatch on the plane. That was when the snowstorm hit hard, very few birds survived through it," she said sadly, "I hid away from the cold and came out when it stopped snowing, I went to look for him, I looked everywhere, but I couldn't look forever, I needed to get home. I figured if he was okay, then he'd found a place to hide out and would be alright, and if not...well..." she trailed off, staring at the floor.

"You did the right thing," Rafael reassured her, smiling gently, "thank you, and thank you for telling me."

She gave him a tiny smile, accepting her mother's hug, not noticing the glare she was giving the toucan.

"You couldn't have given her a few days to settle in?" the older parakeet told him, tightening her grip protectively around her daughter.

"Look I-"

"I went to him," Rita cut him off again, pulling away from her mother, "not the other way round."

"I know darling, I've just been so worried about you, I'm sorry."

"I'm worried too," Rafael said gently, "I don't have the luxury of knowing my child is safe yet, and any news on him is the most incredible thing in the world right now." The mother had the decency to look a little bit ashamed. "Thank you again Rita, but can you do one more thing for me?" She nodded, "don't tell Pedro. He knows birds got out, he's got hope, as fragile as it is, and until we know for definite what happened to Nico, I don't want him to lose that," he smiled, "and don't you give up hope either, no news isn't always bad news."

She smiled, nodding.

"What happens if we never find out?" Blu asked quietly as they prepared to leave, Rita and her mother well out of earshot.

Rafael sighed shakily, "I don't know, I suppose we'll just have to assume the worst."

* * *

The next few weeks went surprisingly fast, so much happened that time was flying by. The little girl Cosette had taken in settled in quickly, the older chicks cooing over her at every opportunity. The tiny bird loved every minute of it, babbling and waving her wings. It had taken a while to settle on a name, everyone throwing in suggestions and yet no one could come to a decision. Eventually they made up their minds.

Marie.

Little Marie who very quickly took to Nico.

After she woke up the day she was found, Cosette did a check up, discovering one very clear reason the girl had been given up. She had been born with just one foot, her left leg ending at the ankle. Her parents clearly didn't want to look after a child that wasn't perfect. In the wild, any sort of disability can leave a bird very vulnerable to attack from a larger bird. But as she grew, learning to walk and talk, she barely even noticed, wobbling along the floor. She knew something was wrong, she knew she walked a little funny, but she always laughed, not caring.

Then again, she very rarely spent any time with her feet on the ground.

"She's still climbing huh?"

Nico glanced upwards, a wry smile on his beak. "Kid just wants to fly, at the moment this is as close as she's gonna ge- ow!" He flinched as his hat fell over his eyes, followed quickly by a giggling blue tit who fell into his lap. "I don't know if it's gonna be worse when she can fly, I'm probably gonna get tackled to the ground every time she's in the room."

"Don't vorry, it's just a phase," Cosette chuckled, watching the small bird climb back up the canary, who simply sat with utmost patience, barely reacting. After two weeks, he was starting to get used to it.

"'ow's the French coming?"

"Très bien, je pense que," Nico replied, grinning with confidence. He had picked the language up fairly quickly. They both pegged it down to the language being fairly similar to Portuguese, at least in comparison to English. Cosette was surprised and impressed at the speed he picked it up.

"Vell, you've got enough to get you out of France at any rate," the sparrow smiled, moving to detach Marie from Nico's head and placing her on the ground, laughing when she simply climbed back up. "Écouter, I was talking to a friend the other day, I didn't want to say anything just in case, but it turns out 'e 'as a brother who lives in Rio," Nico's face lit up, "not sure 'ow likely it is that it would get to your family, but we might be able to get a message out there."

Silence filled the room, Nico staring at her like Christmas had come early, opening and closing his beak like a goldfish with no sound coming out.

"Nico?"

"Really?"

"It may be likely you beat it there, but there's always the chance, right?"

"Rafael knows everybody, I'm sure it'll get to them eventually."

Cosette smiled, "I'll take a look at zat wing zis afternoon, if all is going well, you should be flying again by the end of ze week."

Instead of early, Nico looked at her like all of his Christmases had come at once.

"And then ve'll go and see Francis, est-ce que ça va?"

* * *

"Say, Rafael?"

The toucan turned away from the kids playing with Pedro in the sand, to face Jewel, who was still watching the sandcastle building competition, though her expression had changed from peaceful to thoughtful.

"Yes?"

"This might be weird question," she said, turning towards him, "I've been wondering ever since Pedro moved in, now I know he and Nico are close, any idiot can see that, but what exactly is their..." she waved her wing, "you know? Relationship? I mean, are they friends, are they more than friends? Brothers? I just can't tell."

Rafael opened his beak to reply, before immediately shutting it and frowning, a contemplative expression passing over his face.

"Honestly, your guess is as good as mine," he said after thinking about it for a few moments.

"Really?" Blu piped up from the other side of Jewel, "you don't know?"

The toucan shook his head, "no one knows," he said, "it's one of the biggest mysteries in Rio, there are bets!"

Stunned silence followed his statement, both macaws staring at him, torn between laughing and shocked gasps.

"Are you serious?"

Rafael just laughed, grinning wide, "oh yeah, the wagers are getting pretty high."

"I don't know whether to be horrified or find that completely hilarious," Jewel said, a hint of an amused smile appearing on her beak, "do they know?"

The toucan shrugged, "it would surprise me if they didn't," he laughed, "personally, I think they know everything and are playing it to their advantage, keeping everyone guessing and constantly raising the stakes."

"Wow, that's...that's just..." Blu trailed off, chuckling.

"They're both a lot smarter than most birds will give them credit for, but most don't know it, and they keep it that way," Rafael chuckled, watching Pedro get tackled to the ground by half a dozen chicks who then proceeded to bury him in the sand.

"Who would've thought..." Jewel muttered, smiling as she turned to the scene in front of her, "have you put any bets in?"

Rafael was conspicuously silent at this, and both macaws turned to see him looking anywhere but them, pointedly not meeting their eyes.

"Alright, yes," he blurted out, dropping his head into his wing with a grimace, "I won't tell you what and I can assure you I'm not proud of it, but yeah, I sorta did."

Jewel smirked, "well at least you have the decency to look ashamed," she nudged him lightly, grinning, "don't worry, we won't tell."

Rafael just smiled gratefully, turning back to watch the kids once more. They were silent for a while, content to just sit a watch their respective children have their fun. Even Pedro seemed to have let go and was laughing and having a good time. For the first time in nearly two months Rafael could see through the exterior and see that this wasn't just an act. There was still pain in his eyes, still a sense of loss and the struggle not to notice the very obvious gap next to him, but things were getting easier.

"Do you think he'll be alright?" Jewel asked softly, breaking the quiet.

Rafael sighed, "he'll make it through," he said, "it'll get worse as time goes on though, especially if... especially if..."

"He doesn't come back," Jewel finished for him, placing a comforting wing on his shoulder.

"I can't afford to think like that yet," the toucan continued, "but I do need to prepare for that possibility, both for myself and for my family, but especially for Pedro. Those two, well, whatever their relationship actually is, it doesn't change the fact that they love each other more than anything else in the world, they quite literally need each other to survive. At the moment Pedro's running on the hope that he will come back, and I still believe he will, but if the worst happens, well, he's really going to need all of us to make it through to the other side, and we all need to prepare ourselves for that, even if it never comes to it."

He sighed, raggedly running a wing down his face, "but for now he's alright, and hey, for all we know, Nico will turn up tomorrow and this will all be over."

"One can only hope right?" Blu said, a small smile on his beak.

Rafael gave a short laugh and a smile, which very quickly faded, "yeah, that's all we can do."

* * *

**So yeah, new character. Little baby Marie. She'll have a bigger part later on, for now she's just there for the cute factor :) Anyway, hope you enjoyed, please, please, please leave a review. I don't care if you hated it, just let me know why, I'm always trying to improve. **


	3. The Next Step

**The Next Step**

* * *

Nico sighed happily, relishing in the feeling of cool air against his face as he flew. Most of the snow had finally melted away, the first blossoms of spring bursting through at last. Paris was truly beautiful, especially from the sky. Now he was flying again, Cosette gave him a short tour of the city from above, almost completely in French, at least where she knew he would understand. And he finally got to see, up close and personal, the bloody great big Eiffel Tower that he had (somehow) crashed into.

"So, who is this Francis?"

"'e's a friend just outside central Paris," Cosette explained airily, closing her eyes and enjoying the warm sun on her back as they flew, "I met 'im a few years ago in one of ze parks and we got talking, 'e likes to 'elp out at the orphanage every now and again. The children love 'im. 'e's lovely."

Nico nodded, "sounds like a nice guy. He's a pet then? You said something about an owner."

"Oui, 'is 'uman is rarely around, so 'e can get out quite a lot. I saw 'im a couple of days ago, so I checked if 'e's in today."

They flew for another ten minutes in comfortable silence, before landing in front of a old stone building. The building wasn't really anything impressive, save the sheer size of it. Huge wooden doors loomed over him, two high windows either side.

Nico gave a low whistle, looking up at the high walls.

"You should see the inside," Cosette smirked, ducking into a small hole in the wall. Nico cocked his head curiously, following her through the small hole into the very last place he had expected.

The inside had been converted to replicate a Ballroom from the 18th century. At the far end of the room was a vast embellished golden fireplace, and velvet covered seats and sculptures littered the edge of the room behind large pillars that lined the room. Highly detailed paintings were placed on the walls, and the ceiling had been built into a high dome, with golden arches and a large crystal chandelier hanging from the centre. It was a masterpiece in itself.

"Woah," was the only sound he could make, his brain had stuttered to a complete halt as he stared, open beaked at the downright astonishing room.

"Francis' owner is an architect and interior designer," Cosette explained with a chuckle, "and zis," she said with a flourish of her wing, "vas 'is 'little side project' when 'e wasn't working. 'e rents it out for événements et parties now."

"Well..." Nico found his voice for a moment, trailing off again, eyes roaming over the magnificent room.

"I know," Cosette laughed, "Francis!" she called, hopping forwards to look for her friend, "j'ai quelqu'un ici pour te voir!"

A loud bark echoed around the room, and Nico almost jumped out of his feathers, whirling around to see a large bulldog trot happily out of a side door, drool dripping from his large mouth. He spotted the two birds and bounded over. Nico resisted the urge to fly away, previous experience with Luiz teaching him that flying away would probably be the best option for him right now.

Oh.

_Luiz._

* * *

"I can't believe you know my brother!"

Nico shrugged, laughing at the still very shocked expression on the dog's face, sitting down on the edge of a very ornate desk as Francis jumped up on the desk chair and switched on the computer.

"It's not that unlikely," the canary chuckled, "he gets out a lot, it's the chances of meeting you as well!"

"Heh, true, true," Francis said, using the mouse to navigate around the screen, "so, a message to my brother," he typed in a few words, making it look absolutely effortless, despite his large paws. "What do you want to say?"

Nico thought for a moment, twirling his cap in his wings. "Just to tell Rafael that I'm in Paris, I'm okay, and I'm on my way back," he said eventually. There was a whole spiel of things he wanted to say. Of how much he missed them, missed Rio, of everything that had happened in the past month and a half. But that would just have to wait, he could tell them when he got home. For now, a simple 'I'm alright' would have to do.

"That's everything?" Francis asked, giving the canary a disappointed look.

"Were you expecting more?"

"Francis lives for the dramatics," Cosette leant over and whispered, "I suppose he was hoping for some big love announcement, or a huge apology or something."

Nico snorted, "unfortunately not," he laughed, " as far as I know I don't need to apologise to anyone, and my love life is non-existent at the moment, so not a chance of that happening."

"Really?" Cosette seemed surprised, "how can any girl turn down you?" she teased, smirking a little.

"They don't, I'm just not interested," he said, grinning, "so no drama I'm afraid, just plain and simple, 'I'm on my way'."

There was a quiet, disappointed 'aww', from the bulldog, making both birds laugh as he began to type.

Shaking her head, Cosette led Nico slightly away, closer to a world map hanging on the wall. Nico couldn't help but think of the very fancy one from London, of how had spent most of the night looking at it, trying to tell himself that it wasn't that far really. This one was much newer, more modern, and home didn't look any closer.

"From 'ere, you 'ave a few options," the sparrow explained, "you can either go south towards Africa and get a boat across the Atlantic, or across to Portugal and get a boat from there. You'll probably have more luck there, considering you actually speak Portuguese."

"Right," Nico nodded, looking to where she was pointing, "any other options?"

"You get a plane," Cosette said, "I don't know 'ow, and zere are good and bad aspects to both. It's much quicker, but it's also more dangerous. If you vant fast, try the train, it von't get you to Brazil, but it vill get you south faster than flying."

"Well, I've got this far."

Cosette raised an eyebrow, "and flew into the biggest landmark in France," she said, a smirk playing on her beak. Nico spluttered for a moment, unable to think of a good comeback.

"Done," Francis said, interrupting their discussion. Nico fluttered over, reading over what he had written. Several minutes later, the message was sent, and Nico felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. His family would know he was okay. At least he could stop worrying about that.

A crash snapped them all out of their thoughts, three heads turning towards the slight ajar door, panic clear on Francis' expression.

"S'il vous plaît ne pas être quelque chose d'important," he muttered, jumping down off the chair and bounding into the hall. The two birds quickly followed when they heard a low growl.

He didn't exactly know what to expect when he flew back into the hall, but he never could have expected to see a small green parakeet that looked very, very familiar.

"Liana?"

"Nico!" The bird gasped, looking relieved, "I knew I saw you come in here!"

Nico landed, eyes wide and beak open in shock. "What...what are you doing here?"

"I said, I saw you," Liana tilted her head, blinking at him in confusion.

"I mean in Paris," the canary elaborated, frowning.

"Oh," Liana laughed, waving a wing, "right, I'm, um, visiting family."

The hesitation was enough to plant a seed of suspicion in Nico's mind. Apparently Cosette had the same idea, as she stepped up next to him, taking his wing and pulling him back a step. He glanced at her, noticing how her wide eyed stare wasn't on the parakeet, it was somewhere above her. Following her gaze, he almost stopped breathing when he saw what she was staring at.

"I don't think you are," he said, dropping his gaze back to Liana. Her anxious smile had disappeared, replaced by a very confident smirk.

"You've noticed my friend have you?" she said, glancing up at the huge dark shape sat on a rafter close to the ceiling, "I made him an offer he couldn't refuse, and he agreed to help me out."

"Help you to do what?" Nico asked slowly, breathing hitching in his throat as the dark shape spread his huge wings and soared down to land just behind Liana, who didn't even flinch. What was once a mere shape now took form as a huge eagle.

"Simple," Liana smiled, "kill you."

Cosette didn't miss a beat as she pushed him behind her protectively, and Francis growled.

"Why?" Nico asked, confusion marring his face for a moment, before realisation dawned. "Wait, Pedro. You want to get back at Pedro."

Surprise showed on Liana's face for half a second before she schooled her expression back into that cool smirk. "You're smarter than others give you credit for," she said, stepping forward, the two smaller birds both stepping backwards, keeping the distance between them. "Yes, I want to get back at him for breaking my heart, the day before Valentines of all days, and all for you."

"Wait, what?" Nico frowned, swallowing hard as confusion and fear fought for dominance in his mind. "What do you mean, for me?"

"So I figured, what better way to get back at him than get his precious best friend," she continued, completely ignoring him, "of course I had to wait a while, didn't want things to be too obvious. But the opportunity never came, until you got caught by smugglers. If anything happened to you out here, no one would know, no one would suspect me, and they'd just assume you'd been eaten or something. It's the perfect cover."

Nico still couldn't get his head around something. Well, two things, but he'd figure the other one out later.

"That was two years ago!"

"Like I said, the opportunity never came."

"You're crazy."

Liana smiled wider, "I prefer passionate."

"Yeah, I'm gonna go with crazy," Nico said, backing away slowly, pulling Cosette with him, "or psycho, both work."

They had to get out of here. However there wasn't an exit close enough, and he doubted they could move fast enough to get to one without being caught by the eagle at any rate.

If he ever got home, Pedro was going to be in so much trouble.

"Honestly, it doesn't matter what you think," Liana grinned, "give it a couple of minutes, and you'll be toast."

A sharp tug on his wing almost made him fall over, but he kept his balance, allowing Cosette to pull him away from the threatening birds. A smoky scent slowly began to fill the air, and he could just about hear the crackle of a flame from outside.

"Merde!" Francis hissed, " Pas ici, s'il vous plaît pas ici." Clear panic laced his voice, if the fire got inside, the entire life's work of Francis' owner would be nothing but ash within the hour.

"Don't!" Nico pleaded, "don't bring them into this, please!"

Liana didn't look in any way apologetic. "It's a little late for that," she said with a fake-innocent smile, "and don't try escaping, we'll be waiting if you do," she gave a mock bow, backing towards the door, "adios!"

"No!" Nico cried as the door slammed behind the two birds. Silence covered the room for a moment, the only thing breaking it was the sounds of flames licking at the side of the building, trying to fight their way inside. "We need to get out, is there a back way?" He turned to Francis, who seemed to be on the verge of a panic attack. Needless to say, he didn't get an answer.

"Francis!" Cosette snapped, her expression hardening as she marched over and slapped him round the face. It wasn't much due to the size difference, but it was enough to snap Francis out of his panic-induced daze. "We need to move."

He shook his head, eyes wide and scared.

"I'm sorry," Nico said sincerely, "this is my fault, but we need to get out of here, or we will actually be toast, and that's not how I would like to go out thanks."

"There's a back door," Francis said. All three animals jumped as the glass of one of the windows smashed, bright flames bursting in, "I need to get something from the office first."

"Qu'est-ce? Non, nous avons besoin de sortir!" Cosette yelled over the now roaring fire, pulling Nico close. Her words were lost though, Francis completely ignored her, turning and making for the office. With a low growl, she indicated for Nico to follow and took off after him.

They landed on the floor, watching in mute horror as Francis dug around in a desk drawer. All the while the flames were creeping ever closer.

"That exit better as hell be in here," Nico murmured, keeping one eye on the slightly closed door, "We need to go! Now!"

"Got it!" Francis cried, voice slightly muffled by the box inside it, "let's go!" he bounded towards the door, pushing it open with his nose. The sight that met them made them all freeze for a moment. In the few seconds they were in the office, the flames had spread fast, every flammable object in the room now burning furiously.

"This way," Francis said, sticking close to the stone wall as he headed towards a door in the corner of the room. Nico didn't move for a moment, watching with absolute horror as the flames inched along one of the ceiling beams towards the huge chandelier in the centre of the room.

He was yanked out of the way as the chain holding it up snapped under the burning heat. Cosette pulled him down, sheltering him from the blast as the fixture hit the floor and shattered. Then, without a second's respite, she pulled him towards the now open closet door.

Diving in, the door slammed closed behind them, plunging them into darkness. Nico felt completely helpless as he was pulled as far away from the door as possible, guilt and fear twisting his stomach into painful knots.

"It should hold off for a while," Francis said, voice still muffled, "the way out is just through here." There was some shuffling, then light poured into the room as a curtain was pulled back, revealing a dog-flap. He pushed it open with a paw, indicating with his head that the two birds go though. Cosette pushed him forward. That was the only motivation he needed though as he took off, shooting for daylight, fresh air and freedom.

He kept low, turning and hovering to make sure the other two got out safely.

He needn't have bothered, as Cosette flew straight into him, sending them both crashing to the ground.

"Ow," Nico moaned, blinking stars out of his vision, staring up at the clear blue sky. The beautiful sight was marred only by the orange glow of the fire and the small amount of smoke that managed to fight against the breeze blowing it away from them.

"Are you alright?" Cosette asked, untangling their limbs so they could get up.

"Yeah," he said, standing up and rubbing the back of his head, "yeah, I'm fine." They were silent for a few moments as they took off again, following Francis out the back gate and away from the burning building, sirens blaring in the distance.

No more than ten minutes later they were watching fire fighters do everything they could to douse the flames. Clearly Liana and the eagle didn't anticipate back entrances and were nowhere to be seen.

"I'm sorry Francis," Nico said, hanging his head, unable to look anyone in the eye, "this is my fault."

"No it's not," Francis told him with a small smile, "how were you to know you had a crazy lady who wanted your head on a platter."

Nico looked up at him with a grimace, "yeah, that's gonna make me feel better," he said sarcastically.

"'onestly," Cosette said, placing a comforting wing around his shoulder, "as far as you knew, no one else knew you were 'ere, zere was no way to know she vas going to follow you. None of zis is your fault."

"Still," Nico sighed, dropping his gaze back to the floor, "Pedro is so dead when I get back, he just had to date a psychopath," he muttered, frowning, "they were only together for like a month as well, that woman is crazy."

Cosette gave a small laugh, patting his back, "I zink we need to get you 'ome."

"Yeah, I really think we do."

* * *

"Pwease don't go!"

Nice was close to tears himself as he gave Marie one last hug. It had been two days since the fire, Nico had stuck around to make sure everything was okay with Francis, and say goodbye to the kids at the orphanage he had come to love so much. Especially little Marie, who was finding the concept of him leaving very difficult to get her young mind around.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I would love to stay forever, but I need to go home, I'll come and visit you soon though okay?"

The tiny bird nodded against his chest, still refusing to let go.

"Come on, you need to get to bed," Nico murmured, prying her wings away from his torso, placing her down in her nest, and stroking the feathers on her head, "get some sleep, alright?"

"One more song?" one of the older girls asked from her nest across the room.

"Really?" Nico asked, standing up and crossing his wings, trying to give her a disapproving look, but the smile playing on his beak giving his true feelings away. He looked to Cosette, who just smiled and nodded.

"We've got time for one song, then we've really got to go."

The chicks cheered, settling down in their nests, looking eager.

"Hmmm," Nico tapped his chin, "what to sing? Oh, I think I know," he grinned. It couldn't be something too lively, not when they were trying to get them to sleep, but he knew the perfect song to sing.

_'I am not as brave, beautiful, and patient as you are,  
But I am safe in your arms I listen as you say  
"I'm proud of who you've become  
and the person you will be tomorrow..."  
And I know I would give anything up for you...'_

He stepped out into the aisle between the two rows of nests, singing softly. Eyes were beginning to droop already, and he resisted the urge to chuckle quietly.

_'I'll follow through I promise to hold on  
I'll never let go won't let you down  
If you can stay proud I'll be brave somehow..._

_I am not that brave  
Sometimes I need to hear you whisper  
"Everything's O.K... You'll be fine  
I'll help you find your way..."  
And I have nothing but faith in you  
All that I am is what you are and we are  
I would give anything up for you..._

_I'll follow through I promise to hold on  
I'll never let go won't let you down  
If you can stay proud I'll be brave somehow...'_

He trailed off quietly, smiling and shaking his head in disbelief, fighting back tears. Each and every one of them had fallen asleep, some snoring softly. He was really going to miss this. Cosette stepped up next to him, giving a wry smile at the silence the blanketed the room.

"Actually I've changed my mind," she whispered, "I'm keeping you 'ere."

* * *

Nico shook his head in amusement as Cosette fussed and fretted over him. He let her get on with it though, it was the last time they were going to see each other after all. Just the thought of leaving her almost made him tear up, a lump forming in his throat as he fought back the dampness in his eyes,

"I've packed you zis," Cosette was saying, holding out the pack Alastair had given him all those weeks ago, "a little food, ze name of the port you should go to in order to get a boat down to Africa and ze name of ze airport in Rome should you decide to do that instead. The train takes around 24 'ours so be careful, don't get yourself into trouble, if you see danger fly away, I don't want to be 'earing of anymore incidents, and if you-"

"Alright, alright," Nico interrupted, laughing a little, taking the pack from her and slipping it onto his back, "I'll be careful, I promise."

The sparrow in question looked away bashfully, her eyes becoming filled with tears as she looked down at the little canary putting on his pack and fixing his cap. Before either of the boys could protest however, she had tugged him into a fierce hug, tears spilling over silently as she held him tight.

"I'm okay," she mumbled, pulling away and wiping her eyes, a watery smile tugging at her beak. That broke him down, Nico pulling the older bird back into the hug, burying his face in her shoulder, openly sobbing into her feathers at the knowledge he might never see her again. Cosette froze in shock for a short moment, staring down at the top of his head with wide eyes, before they filled with tears once more and she wrapped her wings around him, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Alright," Cosette said tearfully, pulling away and wiping her eyes with a sniff, "the train looks like it's about to leave, you might want to get going." Nico nodded slowly, attempting to swallow the lump that had risen in his throat. As much as he just wanted to get home, he didn't want to leave the amazing birds here. Maybe he could convince Luiz to let him use the computer every now and again, so he could keep in some form of contact, somehow.

"O-okay, Okay," he said firmly, more to himself than anyone else, taking a deep breath to calm himself. He cleared his throat, looking up at the pair of sparrows with wide, grateful eyes.

"Merci," he said sincerely, fidgeting with the straps of his pack, "for everything."

"Vous êtes le bienvenu mon chéri," Cosette said, smiling wide, "Je vais vous manquer."

They heard the call from the train conductor signalling that the train was about to leave. Nico looked over his shoulder at the long train from their perch on one of the metal beams inside the station.

With a small hiccup, Cosette reached down and gave him one more quick hug. "Be safe," she whispered in his ear as she pulled away.

"I will," Nico breathed, smiling wide. There was another whistle, and the pair heard the train come to life.

"Go," Cosette told him as Nico took off into the air with a final wave and a tip of his hat. He darted down and through an open window into a compartment with a small family, Mother, Father and young son, all gathered around a Newspaper, completely engrossed. He used that moment to flutter up to the luggage rail above them, settling down right at the back, out of sight, leaning against a soft blanket the humans had stowed up there. Might as well get comfortable.

He had a long journey ahead of him.

* * *

**Chapter three :) I've kept Vincent, he will be playing a larger part in future chapters, I promise. However I've changed the plot a little more in terms of villains. I'm making it a little more personal this time round. So this will definitely be interesting. **

**As usual, thank you for reading, please do drop a review if you enjoyed it. I don't mind if it's good news, bad news or whatever, anon or signed, one word or a whole essay. The fact that you left anything literally means the world to me, so thank you. (And I do apologise to those who have messaged me recently and I haven't got round to replying, I've been working non-stop recently, it's been manic, so very, very sorry :))**


	4. Rome

Only an hour into the journey and Nico was already bored. He had taken a short nap to catch up on sleep lost the night before. Nerves at being on his own again kept him up all night, and he was woken up not long after by the kids waking up at some ungodly hour.

It was dark now, but the light in the apartment stayed on. The small family inside stayed awake and talked. At least in the parents case, the young boy ignored them both, earphones in and game console out.

Nico had to laugh, the situation reminding him so much of Carla. She loved blocking out the world with her music, and especially loved blocking out her parents. She didn't get to do it often, mostly due to her mother, but whenever she was able to, there she was, humming along to whatever song was playing on the radio.

He wanted to hum right now. Music calmed him. It always did, it was his outlet for anything. It was also a distraction. Stuck in here though, he couldn't do anything but sing in his head. If the humans found him, if he got caught again, there would be hell to pay.

Without the distraction though, he was stuck thinking. Again.

Home was so far away. And although he was getting closer, the very notion of even attempting to cross the Atlantic was daunting to say the least, much less getting to that point. Flying that sort of distance on his own was terrifying.

And then there was Liana. At the moment it was a lose-lose situation with her. If she thought he had died in the fire, she would be on her way back to Rio right this second to wreck havoc and misery. If she knew he was alive, chances are she would be after him to finish the job.

Both options didn't sound incredible. He didn't even want to contemplate Pedro and Rafael getting the news he had died. It wasn't exactly a pleasant thought. He knew exactly how he would feel if it was the other way round. His world would end if he lost Pedro.

On the other hand, Liana heading back to Rio, even to give them news like that, meant he was free to get back home and prove her wrong, all the while exposing her for the crazy lady she was. While that was a fairly good plan in all, it still involved his family thinking he was dead for quite some time.

He wouldn't inflict that on anyone. Definitely not them.

Burying his face in his wings, he let out a quiet groan.

Whatever the case, he just hoped the rest of his journey was a little less eventful.

* * *

"No, he hasn't been here, not since... well, you know."

Rafael sighed, running a wing down his beak in defeat and irritation. This was beginning to get hopeless. The Alley was his last hope. Pedro was missing and they were beginning to get frantic.

He didn't come home the night before. At first they didn't question it. Since the incident Pedro had been drawing in on himself, hanging out on his own. And while this was understandable, under the circumstances, it was worrying them all. He wasn't opening up, no matter what they tried or said.

And Rafael knew that if they continued on this path, if it got worse, it was going to be irreversible. There would be no way back, not even if Nico came home.

"Thanks anyway," Rafael gave a small smile, sighing and taking off in the opposite direction, trying to picture somewhere that he might have gone. They had checked everywhere, and the city was a big place, not even including the jungle. Eva had the entire family, in-laws and all, sweeping the forest, the Macaws and Rafael had taken to the city. They had ruled out any sort of bird smuggling incident, no other birds had been reported missing. But that didn't stop them worrying.

So far, they hadn't found anything.

Actually, worry didn't even begin to describe what Rafael was feeling.

A thought suddenly occurred, making him stop mid air.

There was one place they hadn't checked.

He almost collapsed with relief when he landed not ten minutes later, seeing Pedro sat on a box, staring up at the sky. He didn't know why they hadn't checked the old runway sooner. It was, after all, the last place he had seen Nico.

"Pedro," he said, catching the smaller birds attention.

"I'm sorr-"

"No," Rafael cut him off sharply, closing his eyes against the hurt look on the cardinal's face, "no, don't say anything, you do not get to do this to me. You do not get to run off and disappear." He took a deep breath, keeping his eyes closed, afraid that if he opened them his resolve would break and he would just break down and cry. "I understand what you're going through Pedro, I really do. But never scare me like that, I've already lost one of you, don't... just, just don't."

He looked up, feeling slightly guilty at Pedro's chastised expression. He knew he was justified though, he knew he had to let this out.

"I know you're scared, I do, I'm terrified," he said, more gentle this time, stepping forward, "every minute, every day, all I can think of is where is he? Is he safe, is he even alive?" Pedro flinched, but Rafael ploughed on, "but running off isn't the answer, you need talk to us, we can help you. If you keep this bottled up, it's only going to feel worse."

Silence followed his speech, Pedro looking on the edge of a breakdown. Rafael sighed, giving the bird a sympathetic smile and offering out a wing. With a choked sob, Pedro flew at him, burying his face in his feathers and letting the toucan envelope him in a tight hug.

"I-I just w-want him back," he cried, body shaking with sobs.

"I know," Rafael soothed, feeling his own tears pricking at the corners of his eyes, "I know, it's not fair for this to happen, it's not. But we're gonna get through it, okay? Whatever happens we will be alright."

"I- I- I-" the smaller bird couldn't get the words out, instead resorting to simply crying harder. Rafael tightened his hold, tears beginning to roll down his cheeks.

"I know," he said softly, "I know, this sucks."

"I wish I was there with him," Pedro murmured, so quietly Rafael barely heard it.

"Me to," he said, "I mean, ultimately I want you both here, safe," Pedro pulled away to look up at him, and Rafael gave him a small smile, "but if this really had to happen, I would rather you two were getting through it together, like you always do."

Pedro gave him a look that made him immediately retract his last statement.

"Don't even think about it," he said, raising an eyebrow, "it might actually kill me if you disappeared too. Like, complete heart attack, six feet under. Then I will come back as a ghost and haunt you for doing that to me."

Pedro snorted, letting out a watery laugh. "Don't worry, I wouldn't even know where to start looking."

Rafael just gave him a dry look.

"Really," Pedro assured him, holding up his wings in surrender, "not going after him, I'm not _that_ stupid."

"Okay, okay," Rafael smiled, "shall we get back? Half the forest is looking for you."

"Yeah, come on."

* * *

'_Rome is certainly impressive_,' Nico thought as he landed on top of the highest edge of the vast Colloseum not long after the train finally arrived the next day. He sighed, at least in Paris he immediately had someone to lean on, someone who knew the city and helped him figure out what to do next. Here as a completely different story. Not only that, but he came across another problem.

Another country, another language.

Cosette spoke English, there was bound to be someone here who could too. The only question was who?

His thoughts were interrupted when a loud rumble came from the general direction of his stomach, and he couldn't help but groan, remembering that he hadn't eaten properly since yesterday morning. Flopping on the warm stone, he slipped his pack off, digging through it for the rest of his food. Once he found what was left; a few pieces of biscuit and some dried apple, he settled down and watched the city while he ate.

He fluttered around the city for several hours after that, apparently looking so lost that several birds approached him, concern clear in their eyes, but only ever speaking a language he didn't know. They all eventually left him alone after a very awkward conversation in which neither party knew what the other was saying. It was early evening and the sun was just beginning to set by the time Nico slumped back where he had started, feeling slightly hopeless. He shut his eyes tight, wishing he could block out this nightmare.

That was when he heard it. The ever-so-faint sound of music. It wasn't quite the music he was both used to and in to, but it was upbeat and had a good rhythm.

The canary sat up, wide-eyed and suddenly not quite as tired as he was before. There was always something about music that woke up something inside him, whether it was samba or rock, a ballad or trance, he always felt alive when there was music playing.

He took to the air, following the sound deeper into the ancient arena, diving into the maze of stone in the centre as the sound grew louder and louder.

As he turned into a small gap bright lights attacked his vision, deep within the walls of the Colosseum and far away from prying human eyes. A club crammed with birds of all shapes and sizes, brightly coloured lights and lasers lit up the surprisingly large space.

It looked so much like the Alley back in Rio that he almost backed out of going in, but he steeled himself and moved forward, blocking out memories of home as he squeezed through birds. A sort of techno beat was blasting out of obviously stolen speakers, bass fast and heavy. It wasn't the sort of music he would usually enjoy, being a samba bird through and through, but he could help the smile and the bob of his head as he moved through the dancing crowds.

On the far side of the room, the furthest away from the loud music blasting into the space was what looked like a drinks bar. Nico made a beeline for it, hoping against all odds he could find someone who could help him out.

"Ciao, cosa posso ottenere per te?" the bartender, a large, thin bird with a long beak asked as the canary sat down on one of the higher stools. The bird was met with a completely blank, wide-eyed look, and he sighed, smirking a little with a shake of his head. "English?"

Nico almost sagged in relief, nodding with a sheepish smile.

"I'm Anthony, but most just call me Ant. Where ya from kid?" The bartender asked, talking with a thick Italian accent but speaking in clear English. He was smiling fully now as he leant on the bar.

The yellow bird was slightly startled by the question, not quite expecting it, but answered in his usual confident fashion none-the-less. "I'm Nico, from Rio," he said, almost proudly.

"Rio, huh?" the other repeated thoughtfully, "I went there once, about a decade ago now, took my girl to the carnival. Week long party," he chuckled at the memory, "best week of my life, but not long after I was married with kids." He grinned as Nico simply raised an eyebrow, smirking.

"Sounds familiar," Nico laughed, remembering the story of how Rafael and Eva got together. One moment they were living the high life, the next they were married and had eighteen kids to look after.

"I want to say you're here on holiday, but the expression on your face when I spoke to you in Italian says otherwise."

Nico shook his head, "I'm trying to get home," he told Ant with a shrug, "there was a bit of an incident with bird smugglers a few months ago and I ended up in England, been trying to get back ever since. Harder than it looks."

"Well if it's taken you that long I wouldn't have guessed it was easy ride," Ant said, "that or you got seriously distracted," he added with a wink.

"Unfortunately no such luck," Nico chuckled. It was then someone from further down the bar called for the tender.

"I know a couple of guys that could help you," Ant told him right before he left to serve, "hang around here and I'll throw them in your direction."

* * *

Several hours later, Nico was sat on a thimble, leant against the bar and watching the crowd thin out as everyone began to go home. The music had mellowed out, a live Acapella band having taken over. He yawned, the very long day beginning to catch up with him.

He tapped his foot to the music, enjoying the sound. The group was ten strong, and their voices blended together perfectly and the lead had a very good voice.

The song choice however, had a lot to be desired.

He closed his eyes, trying to focus on the backing music rather than the lyrics. Not that he had anything against older music, only if he had the choice, he just preferred stuff from this century.

Before he could think anymore on it though, he found himself tackled to the ground, two heavy weights on top of him.

"So, I hear you need to get to Rio," a low pitched voice came from somewhere above his position on the floor.

"in which case you came to the right birds," it was a different voice, he was sure of it. It sounded almost identical to the first, but the canary picked up the slightly higher pitch.

"Do you mind getting off me?" Nico asked, his face squashed against the floor. He tried to sound polite, but the tone was bordering murderous. He was tired, hungry, had nowhere to sleep, he wanted to go home and had been waiting for near on four hours for this mysterious 'help'. Needless to say, he was not in the best of moods.

"Now, now, that's really no way to speak to your saviours now is it?" The first voice commented, neither moving from their position on top of him.

"Not at all, maybe we won't help you after all," the other remarked.

"Boys, don't kill the poor kid, I think he's been through enough." Ant's voice drifted from nearby. His tone suggested this was something that happened on a regular basis.

Thankfully the two weight's listened and clambered up and off him. Nico sucked in a lungful of air and pushed himself into a sitting position, coughing a little as he tried to breathe normally again. He turned to look at his attackers, raising his eyebrows as he saw a pair of identical owls, both brown and white, sitting side by side with wide smiles on their faces. They were about twice his size, though in owl sizes, this was still pretty small. They had wide, dark eyes that had a glint of mischief. Any other day, he would probably get along with the pair from the moment they met. But unfortunately, today they met the tired and irritable Nico, who only wanted a nice warm bed and a long, long sleep.

"I'm Joe," the one on the left chirped

"and I'm Josh," the other added. They both looked so happy and so...awake, that all Nico wanted to do was strangle them both.

"Look, sorry, it's been a long day, I just need to find somewhere to sleep and we can pick this up in the morning. Sound good?" He asked, voice strained as he tried to be civil. "Trust me, I'm usually a nice guy, but I get grouchy when I haven't had enough sleep, so how about I'll see you in the morning and we can sort everything out then?"

Both owls looked at each other nervously. They wanted to help, they always did, but despite the small size, this one was scary. Ant had told them he was just a nice bird trying to get home.

"Alright."

"I suppose we don't have a choice"

"I mean, I do want to live."

"So I guess we can wait."

Nico's gaze flicked between them both. All he could think of was physic link, since they were finishing each other's sentences without hesitation. That or they were actually one bird and he was just that tired.

"You can stay at our place."

"If you want." They smiled, trying to get back into the small birds good books.

"Thank you," Nico sighed, a small smile of his own gracing his features.

The birds glanced at each other, grinning.

This was going to be fun.

* * *

**So...part 4 :) Short one, next one is quite long, and I don't really wanna break that up, so this is all for now :) **

**Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, and please leave a review, always appreciated :)**


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